Genesis (Written)

Genesis 38:1-23
Judah and Tamar
The Transfer of the Pledge

Introduction: Chapter 38 of Genesis is somewhat like chapter 34. In Chapter 34, we saw the incident with Dinah being violated and then Jacob’s sons killing the whole town. That story was there for a reason, however, that reason was veiled in pictures of things that really happened, but which pointed to something else.

This chapter is the same. It is interesting, it has intrigue, sadness, and joy all mixed into it, just like chapter 34. But it’s more than a fun story. One of the things that it includes is the continuance of the line of Judah which is the tribe Jesus comes from. This is certain. But we could have learned about that in a sentence or two.

All of the extra detail could otherwise be considered fat to be removed unless it is telling us something deeper, something rich, and helpful to our understanding of the reason why things happen as they do. The ultimate meaning of what this chapter is pointing to is actually quite similar to that of Chapter 34.

If you remember how that turned out, then you may also be able to see the fulfillment of the pictures in this story too. If not, pay attention to the historical and cultural details today and then next week we will finish up the chapter with a wonderful explanation of what we are being told.

In all honesty, just like the story about Dinah, I had only an inkling of why this one was given. It turned out that thinking these pictures through has made for one of the most difficult sermons for me yet in the book of Genesis. I frustrated over it, mulled over it, pondered over it, and fretted over it for hours.

Then I went to bed thinking about it. At 3:04 in the morning, I suddenly realized what this story was talking about and by 3:19 I had almost the entire picture in my head. Yes, the night watches were filled with contemplating the Word of God. And because of this, I have a text verse for you today from the 119th Psalm –

Text Verse: My eyes are awake through the night watches,
That I may meditate on Your word. Psalm 119:148

God’s word is a beautiful treasure. But as is the case with most treasure, it isn’t revealed without being searched out. One can’t place the Bible under their pillow and expect the information to ooze in to their brain. Rather, it needs to be read, contemplated, and meditated on.

Even into the darkest hours of the night the psalmist meditated on God’s word, and so should we. Make every effort to spend your days wisely – reading, pondering, and loving God’s precious gift, the Holy Bible. It is living and active and ready to instruct us as we pay heed to it and so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Judah’ Unrighteousness

Chapter 38 of Genesis is interesting for what it contains. It seems like a side narrative unless you know why it’s included. It in fact, is a main narrative, just as the life of Joseph is. It is an insert story into the account of Joseph’s life and it is inserted at this point for a reason. Joseph’s life and ordeal is recorded to show how the Israelites ended up in Egypt and how they were cared for when they got there.

At the same time, everything about Joseph is also providing pictures of the coming Messiah. The story of Judah and his family here in chapter 38 is given to show us about the main line which leads to the Messiah. Jesus will come through Judah. Because of this, the story here bears directly on His ancestry.

¹ It came to pass at that time that Judah departed from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah.

This first verse starts with, “it came to pass at that time.” Just as the previous account was finishing up, the events of this story come about and continue to unfold. Judah, like his brothers, is a shepherd and so he would take his flocks and head out for green pastures. For whatever reason, he decided to go out on his own, leaving his brothers, and to visit someone he met named Hirah.

Hirah means “Nobility.” He’s noted as an Adullamite. Adullam is a town to the south and west of Jerusalem in the lowlands. Adullam means “righteousness” or “justice of the people.”

² And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua, and he married her and went in to her.

While visiting Hirah in Adullam, Judah married a daughter of Shua, who is identified as a Canaanite. Shua means “Wealth.” This verse is one which should tell us about the importance of names that God records in the Bible. Why? Because the name of Judah’s friend is given, the people his friend belongs to is given, and the name of his father’s wife is given.

But the wife’s name isn’t. The one person you’d expect to be named isn’t named at all. This tells us to pay attention when names are given. There is a story within the story we should be looking for. The dating it is hard to pin down, but Genesis 46:12 says this concerning those of Judah’s family that go to Egypt in the future –

The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

If the sons of Perez actually went to Egypt, then Judah got married at about 14 years old and it happened around the time that they lived in Shechem when Dinah was violated.

But another possibility is that the two sons of Perez were actually born in Egypt, even though they are listed as those who went down to Egypt. This type of speech is seen at other times in the Bible. A person who is still in the loins of the parent is spoken of in a future sense. So either is possible, but either way, Judah is a young man.

³ So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er.

Judah’s firstborn is named Er. Er means “Watching” or “Watcher.”

⁴ She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan.

With no other commentary about the times and life of Judah, the story jumps straight to the next son to be born, Onan, which means “Strong.” But instead of Judah naming him, it says she named him.

⁵ And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name Shelah. He was at Chezib when she bore him.

And yet again, a third son is recorded by name. His name is Shelah which means “Prosperity.” Again the wife names the son and then it notes the he, Judah, was at Chezib when she bore him. Chezib means “false” or “falsehood.”

⁶ Then Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

Judah got married at a young age and now he finds a wife for his firstborn at a young age as well. The wife he chooses for her is named Tamar, meaning “Palm Tree.” In the Bible, the palm tree has several connotations. It is a symbol of prosperity, the element of an oasis, and it also is a picture of a faithful and righteous person.

The 92nd Psalm gives this symbolism –

The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
¹³ Those who are planted in the house of the Lord
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴ They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be fresh and flourishing,
¹⁵ To declare that the Lord is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. (12-15)

Because of this symbolism, depictions of palm trees are said to lavishly ordained the walls of both Solomon’s and Ezekiel’s temples.

⁷ But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord killed him.

This is one of those verses where people really start to take offense against God and against the Bible. Or, there are those that have no problem with this verse, but then struggle with the death of someone that they think is a “good” person. But God is the Creator and this is His world.

If he wants to remove someone for whatever reason, because they are wicked or to save them from what might be a bigger catastrophe in their future, this is His right. In the case of Er, he was wicked in the sight of Jehovah and so Jehovah killed him. I have no problem with this at all.

“The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” In Er’s death, God’s plans are worked out. And in each of our lives, we can only count on the breath in our nostrils. Our life will in fact end. The only questions are “when” and “how.”

In an interesting play on “Er” and “wickedness,” the same letters are used in the Hebrew for both words. Er is spelled ayin, resh and “wicked” which is ra is spelled resh, ayin. It is almost as if the Bible is describing him as completely wicked; it being his very nature. Er’s wickedness is great like the people before the Flood of Noah and the people of Sodom.

⁸ And Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.”

Because Er is dead and he left no children, Judah tells his second son Onan, to take Tamar as his wife and raise up and heir for Er.

Onan, take your brother’s wife
Take Tamar and go into her
For I want you to raise up another life
Yes, I want you to raise an heir for Er

The word used for this marriage is a special word used just for this purpose. It is where a person acts as a husband for the widow of a brother who died without children.

This is something that will actually be mandated under the Law of Moses, but it was a custom which was obviously known at this time. It is also known to have been practiced in many cultures of the mid-east and Africa.

It is a way of honoring the name of the dead so that their name doesn’t die out. It will also ensure that the inheritance of the firstborn remains alive.

⁹ But Onan knew that the heir would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother.

Well, never let anyone say that the Bible hides the faults of man, no matter how unusual they are. Because of the custom of the land and Judah’s direction to him, the first child of Onan wouldn’t be recorded as his. It would be listed under Er. And the inheritance for Er would go to this son rather than to his own.

This didn’t sit well with Onan and so instead of refusing to have Tamar at all, he committed a worse act. He took her as his wife, but he wouldn’t provide a child for her in the process. The Hebrew word literally says he “destroyed to the ground.”

So he treated her shamefully, disgraced the name of his brother, and violated the custom handed down to him by his father.

¹⁰ And the thing which he did displeased the Lord; therefore He killed him also.

Because of this sin against the Lord, the woman, the brother, and his father, the Lord killed Onan also. The questions one might ask are, “Why does the Lord kill Er when there are lots of wicked people on the earth, and yet he doesn’t kill all of them?” and “Why did the Lord kill Onan when there were certainly others who did the same thing as him, but he doesn’t kill them?”

The answer is found in the title of the One who killed them, “the Lord.” It is Jehovah specifically, not just the general title for “God.” When the title “Jehovah” is used, it is speaking of the One who monitors the covenant and the covenant people.

The title Lord, or Jehovah, is only mentioned three times in this chapter and only in the two verses about Er and Onan. What they have done is a violation of the covenant God gave to Abraham and which was passed down to Isaac, then Jacob, and then to the sons of Israel. As Judah is the son in the line of the Messiah, these sons have willfully disgraced the covenant.

What Onan has done here has been used a jillion times as a verse prescribing that one must not do what he did. From that, the concept is built on that one must intend to procreate every time they have relations with their wife.

And from there come mandates against birth control. One concept is built upon another inserting mandates which are beyond what Scripture is stating or even implying. The use of the term “Lord” or Jehovah shows us that this is not at all what is intended.

This is a covenant violation, not merely a human transgression. Otherwise, another term such as  “God” would have been used. The Bible is silent on the issue of birth control, be it using the timing cycle or any other means, and this verse cannot be used as a text against it.

Reuben, Simeon, and Levi have all been excluded from the blessing of leading to the Messiah. And so Jehovah’s eyes and covenant keeping responsibilities are directed toward Judah and his descendants. Jehovah saw these two as unfit and they were killed.

It is His covenant to monitor and He decides how it will be enforced. Now, with the two wicked sons out of the way a new avenue to the Messiah will be sought out.

I would suggest right now that Tamar was probably aware of the covenant and the promise of Messiah through Judah. There is no reason to assume that Judah would have kept it from his wife, nor is there a reason to assume that Er wasn’t made aware of it. And so Tamar heard through him or through Judah himself.

¹¹ Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house till my son Shelah is grown.”

Tamar has seen two husbands die without bearing children. Judah knows that Shelah is too young to perform his duties by giving her a child in place of those two brothers. And so he says to her to remain a widow in her father’s house until Shelah is old enough to fill the role.

In saying this, it’s indicating that she must remain a widow and not marry outside of the family. As he has a responsibility to the name of his son, she has a responsibility to the dead husband.

^{11 (con’t)} For he said, “Lest he also die like his brothers.”

We can infer that he said this to himself, not to Tamar. What Judah was actually worried about isn’t Tamar, but the life of his third son. In essence, “She must be the cause of the first two dying.” He didn’t want the third to die because of her as well.

^{11 (con’t)} And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.

What is obviously in view here is that Tamar is the one who has suffered the loss of two husbands. Judah may feel that she is to blame, but Tamar may think the opposite. “I’ve lost two husbands from this family already – one was wicked, the other was cruel. When will this pain end?”

And yet, in faithfulness to the family and to the custom, she went back to dwell in her father’s house. She acts in an upright manner, as her name “Palm Tree” implies.

II. A Pledge is Given

¹² Now in the process of time the daughter of Shua, Judah’s wife, died;

Here we have a phrase, v’yirbu ha’yamim, or “and the days were multiplied.” It means an indeterminate amount of time, but it usually means a pretty long period, even several years. Sometime after Judah made his promise to Tamar, his wife dies.

Birth, life, and death are all at the Lord’s discretion, and so it shows us that what is coming is being set up through the Lord’s hand.

^{12 (con’t)} and Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

After a time of mourning for his wife, it says he went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, taking along his friend Hirah. Timnah means “a part assigned” or “territory”. The reason for taking his friend is that at the time that the sheep are sheared, it’s usually a time of fun and parties.

The owners would invite friends, and treat their working hands to entertainment, good food, and festivity. This occurs around the end of March after the winter is ending. Because of the festive time, he brings Hirah along as well.

¹³ And it was told Tamar, saying, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.”

In what is probably a matter-of-fact happening, someone mentions to Tamar that Judah, her father in law, is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep. Whether the comment was simply an innocuous statement of fact or not, Tamar is going to use it as an opportunity for personal justification.

¹⁴ So she took off her widow’s garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself,

The clothes that she wore while living in her father’s house distinguished her as a widow. She had remained faithful to her trust not only by not marrying, but also by showing those around her that she was a widow and living as a widow. If nothing else, the righteousness of her actions are testified to in the Bible.

However, because of the length of time mentioned in the previous verse, she had figured out that Judah had no intention of giving his third son to her as a husband. This was her right and if she knew of the Messianic blessing, then even more so.

And so she devised a plan, maybe without knowing its outcome, to get him to see the error of his ways. She put on a veil and wrapped herself in a manner that would identify her as a prostitute. The word for “veil” is tsiaph. It is used only three times in the Bible.

The first was when Rebekah covered herself as she approached her husband-to-be, Isaac. The other two are both in this story. She is unknown to Judah because of the veil.

^{14 (con’t)} and sat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah;

Then she sat in an open place on the way to where he was heading. In Hebrew, the term “open place” is bepheta enayim – “the gateway of eyes.” She is dressed as a prostitute and sitting in a location which would identify her as one as well. And the reason for her doing this is seen in the continuation of verse 14…

^{14 (con’t)} for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife.

It had been long enough for Shelah to grow up to the point that she should have been given to him as a wife, but it hadn’t happened. Now, in order to be justified as she should have been by Judah, she will turn the tables on him.

¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, because she had covered her face.

Of course he did. She’s dressed as a harlot in a harloty kind of place, and her face is covered to disguise who she is. So Judah simply thinks it’s a prostitute and not his daughter in law.

The Hebrew word is zonah, a person who sells themselves for hire, but it is used figuratively throughout the Bible when speaking of religious prostitution. An example of this is found in Hosea 9:1 –

Do not rejoice, O Israel, with joy like other peoples,
For you have played the harlot against your God.
You have made love for hire on every threshing floor.

¹⁶ Then he turned to her by the way, and said, “Please let me come in to you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.

Judah, seeing this woman by the wayside, being unmarried, and being completely unsuspecting of who she really is, makes an offer for a tryst. The Bible notes specifically that “he did not know that she was his daughter in law.” In other words, it implies that if he knew, he wouldn’t have done this.

And that should be obvious because he never propositioned her before. He unsuspectingly was led to do what he otherwise would have refrained from doing.

^{16 (con’t)} So she said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”

A deal is a deal. He has offered and she asks what he is willing to pay for her services. Again, as I mentioned earlier, the Bible doesn’t hide these things.

They are the state of fallen people in a fallen world and the Bible shows what happened, not just to give us fun stories, stories about how stupid we can be, or merely irrelevant stories, but to show us moral lessons and greater pictures of God’s workings in this world.

¹⁷ And he said, “I will send a young goat from the flock.”

Judah’s offer for her services is a goat from the flock, in Hebrew gedi izzim, a kid goat. It’s something that he will send back to her later. But without the payment in hand, she plays the true role of a harlot, expecting something as collateral…

^{17 (con’t)} So she said, “Will you give me a pledge till you send it?”

im titen eravon ad shawl-khekha (2.59) – “so, give me a pledge until you send it.” The word “pledge” here, eravon, signifies an earnest deposit. When the goat is received, then the earnest can be returned.

¹⁸ Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?” So she said, “Your signet and cord, and your staff that is in your hand.”

When he asks what she wants as a pledge, she asks for three things, his signet, cord, and staff.

khothemkha – your signet. It’s either a ring or a medallion which was used to make impressions in wax or clay. It was used like we use a signature. It is one’s identity. In the case of a king, it would be his symbol of authority. In Haggai 2:23, it is used when speaking of the authority of the Davidic line bestowed by God upon Zerubbabel.

uphtilekha – and your cord. The word comes from pathal – to twist. Some call this a bracelet, some a piece of clothing, but what is most likely is that it was a cord attached to the signet so he could keep it around his neck.

u-matekha – and your staff. This is a walking stick which would have been used as his ensign. In the 110th Psalm it’s used to indicate the scepter, the symbol of the strength and authority, of the Messiah –

The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.
Rule in the midst of Your enemies! (1, 2)

^{18 (con’t)} Then he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.

These three things are taken as a pledge for the kid goat. They show the ensign, the authority, and the identity of Judah. Until he receives them back, she has the title to them.

After obtaining possession of these articles, we are told that Judah received his payment and in turn Tamar receives his seed. She conceives a child through this one encounter. Another divinely directed event in the unfolding moments of man’s redemption, just like what happened with the two daughters of Lot.

¹⁹ So she arose and went away, and laid aside her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.

In order to avoid receiving the kid goat immediately and thus having to return the pledge, she hurries away from the location. Once home again, she removes the veil and puts on her garments of widowhood. She possesses the pledge and she possesses the child. She is the bearer of the coming Messiah and the possessor of the authority of that Messianic line.

III. The Missing Harlot

²⁰ And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her.

For whatever reason, instead of going himself, he sent the goat with his friend the Adullamite. The payment is being offered, and the pledge is expected in return. However, she is gone and she is nowhere to be found.

The term Aduallamite has been used three times. In the first two, Hirah’s name is used in conjunction with it. This time, it leaves his name out and only calls him the Adullamite.

²¹ Then he asked the men of that place, saying, “Where is the harlot who was openly by the roadside?” And they said, “There was no harlot in this place.”

Hirah asks around for the harlot, but this time a different word is used for “harlot.” It is the Hebrew qedeshah. This is a temple prostitute. One who has sex for religious purposes, not for specifically for money.

The word qedesh is spelled the same and closely related to qadesh. Both carry the connotation of what is holy. He is supposing that this was her type of prostitution. This type of prostitution was common in and around the middle east for many centuries. It was also practiced around the Greek and Roman empires.

But in this case, none of the people around have any knowledge of there being a temple prostitute and they even deny there being one. And so back he goes to Judah…

²² So he returned to Judah and said, “I cannot find her. Also, the men of the place said there was no harlot in this place.”

His search complete even to inquiring of the people of the place and yet he couldn’t find her. He’s done everything he can, but to no avail. Again, he uses the term qedeshah instead of zonah to describe the harlot.

²³ Then Judah said, “Let her take them for herself, lest we be shamed; for I sent this young goat and you have not found her.”

Judah is more worried about being laughed at by man than his conduct before God. The tokens of his position, title, and identity also mean less to him than being laughed at. He is unwilling to bear the reproach of his actions even at such a high cost. And then he shrugs it off by saying that he did his part by sending the goat.

If the payment isn’t acceptable, that isn’t his fault, he feels he can do without the pledge. And he feels justified because he went through the motions of his obligation, even though it was for completely perverse purposes.

Well, this is, surprisingly, the point where we have to stop off today. The completion of the story and the chapter will come next week. Until we get there, I hope you’ll think on what you’ve heard and make an effort to place it in a New Testament context. In particular, think on the pledge that Tamar was given.

If you can place that, then the rest of the story will start to make sense. A pledge is something that is provided in anticipation of receiving something else. We, like Tamar, have been given a pledge if we have called on Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

It is the sealing of the Holy Spirit; the guarantee of our promised redemption. As God doesn’t make mistakes, we have the absolute assurance of the fulfillment of this promise. Stand fast on that.

But if you have never called on Jesus, you have no guarantee except the surety that when you die, you will remain separated from God.But in His great mercy, God sent His Son to change that. Please give me a moment to explain to you how you can receive the gift of Jesus and thus, the promise of eternal life.

Closing Verse: Keep my soul, and deliver me;
Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.
²¹ Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For I wait for You. Psalm 25:20, 21

Next Week: Genesis 38:24-30 (The One Who Breaks Through) (96th Genesis Semon) – Make sure to read and study those verses.

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you and He has a good plan and purpose for you. Call on Him and let Him do marvelous things for you and through you.

Judah and Tamar
The Transfer of the Pledge

It came to pass at that time
That Judah from his brothers departed
And visited a certain Adullamite
Whose name was Hirah, the name he was imparted

And Judah saw there a daughter
Of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua
And he married her and went in to her
Soon there would be more than just them two-a

So she conceived and bore a son
And he called his name Er – he was the first one

She conceived again and soon a son she bore
And she called his name Onan, a second son to adore

And she conceived yet again and bore a son
And called his name Shelah
He was at Chezib when she bore that one
And with the third, she cried “Zippity doo dah!”

Then Judah took a wife for his firstborn, Er
And Tamar was the name that was given to her

But Er, Judah’s firstborn
Was wicked in the sight of the Lord
And the Lord killed him because of his scorn
Such is noted in God’s precious word

And Judah said to the second son Onan
“Go in to your brother’s wife and marry her
And raise up an heir to your brother, young man
Fulfill your duty to your dead brother Er

But Onan knew that the heir would not be his
And it came to pass, in actions quite unsound
When he went in to his brother’s wife he did this
That he emitted instead on the ground

Lest he should give an heir to his brother
He thought only of himself, not another

And the thing which he did displeased the Lord
Therefore He killed him also, as says the word

Then to Tamar his daughter-in-law Judah said
“Remain a widow in your father’s house
Till my son Shelah is grown in the days ahead
And I will give to him you as his spouse

“Lest he also die like his brothers” is what Judah said
And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house
Because now her second husband was dead

Now in the process of time, as the days passed
The daughter of Shua, Judah’s wife, died
After a time of grief he went up to his sheepshearers
To Timnah, with Hirah the Adullamite at his side

And it was told to Tamar, saying
“Look, up to Timnah is going your father-in-law
To shear his sheep” for this you have been praying
“Get moving Tamar, don’t hem and haw

So she took off her widow’s garments
Covered herself, and with a veil wrapped her face
She went to a spot on the way to Timnah
There she sat in an open place

For she saw that Shelah was grown in life
And she was not given to him as a wife

When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute
Because she had covered her face, she seemed of ill-repute

Then he turned to her by the way, and said
“Please let me come in to you”
For he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law, instead
As if this made it right to do what he did do

So she said, “What thing will it be
That you will give, so you may thus come in to me

And he said, “A young goat from the flock I will tender.”
So she said, “Until then will you to me a pledge render?”

Then he said, “What pledge shall I give you?”
So she said, “Your signet and cord also,
And your staff that is in your hand.” This you shall do
Then what you have promised I will receive, I know

Then he gave them to her, and into her he went
And she conceived by him, in this time that they spent

So she arose and went away
And laid aside her veil that she had wore
And put on the garments of her widowhood, that day
Living without a husband once more

And Judah sent the young goat as was planned
By the hand of the Adullamite, his friend
To receive his pledge from the woman’s hand
But he did not find her as he did intend

Then he asked the men of that place
Saying, “Where is the harlot who did disappear
Who was openly by the roadside and covered her face?”
And they said, “There was no harlot around here.”

So he returned to Judah and said
“I cannot find her, though I looked everywhere
Also, the men of the place, I do dread
Said there was no harlot working there

Then Judah said, “Let her take them for herself,
Lest this get out and we be shamed
For I sent this young goat
And you have not found her, we can’t be blamed

The details are given for us to continue to see
God’s unfolding plan being revealed in history

Every word gives us insights into His loving heart
Each story is to show us more of His Son Jesus
As we read the word, to us it does impart
Wisdom and beauty, given from God to us

And so be sure to cherish the word every day and every night
Let it be your comforting friend and let it be your guiding light

Hallelujah and Amen…

Genesis 37:23-36
In and Out of the Pit of Despair

Introduction: You know that throughout the Genesis sermons, we’ve found a ton of pictures which find their fulfillment in later redemptive history. Adam Clarke, the great Methodist commentator and theologian cautions strongly against this. Here are his thoughts –

“Parallels and coincidences of this kind should always be received cautiously, for where the Spirit of God has not marked a direct resemblance, and obviously referred to it as such in some other part of his word, it is bold, if not dangerous, to say “such and such things and persons are types of Christ.” We have instances sufficiently numerous, legitimately attested, without having recourse to those which are of dubious import and precarious application.”

In his later comments from chapter 40 of Genesis, he is even stronger in his wording and condemnation of the searching out and use of such pictures. But in this, he and I will have to disagree.

First, because he is long since dead, and secondly, his thoughts dismiss the very words of both Jesus and the apostles which state that these things testify to Jesus. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 10, as on several other occasions, Paul uses such examples from the Old Testament and demonstrates exactly how they symbolically picture and point to Christ and His work. He then says,

“Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (11)

Having said this, pictures, patterns, and parallels cannot be pulled out of the wind. They must align with something God later instructs us on, either implicitly or explicitly. And they must be directed properly to the plan of redemption as the Bible reveals it.

If so, then the patterns are not only acceptable, they actually explain the seemingly unnecessary nature of some things the Bible includes. They are not unnecessary, but are integral words, ideas, and pictures which reveal to us the majesty of God’s wisdom and the glory of the work of Christ.

Today’s patterns will be no different. So let’s continue our journey through Genesis with the story of Joseph as he is sold off to slavery in the land of Egypt.

Text Verse: I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly;
I go mourning all the day long.
⁷ For my loins are full of inflammation,
And there is no soundness in my flesh.
⁸ I am feeble and severely broken;
I groan because of the turmoil of my heart. Psalm 38:6-8

Both Jacob and Joseph will suffer greatly from the events of today’s passage. It’s hard for most of us to relate to what occurred to them, but how much more the things which they picture in Christ. What He suffered for us was done willingly – for people like you and me.

Such is the love of God for His wayward creatures. Let us never forget what He went through to reconcile us back to Himself and so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. The Waterless Pit

²³ So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him.

Our first verse today is undoubtedly recorded for the purpose of showing us the coming abasement of the Lord of Creation, our Savior Jesus. Joseph’s brothers hated that their father favored him and that he was set above them.

The coat was a sign of that favor and of his authority over them. They wanted him to feel the effects of its loss and so when he was sent by his father to check up on them, they stripped him of it. The same idea is true concerning Jesus.

He, the favored Son of His Father, was sent on a journey to His brethren, the people of Israel – to be the Shepherd over them, but when they saw Him coming, they hated the authority He possessed and so they eventually stripped him as well.

This concept of His coat actually finds its fulfillment in two ways, one spiritually, and one literally. In his earthly adornment, God prepared a human nature, a coat, for His Son in a way which no other possessed. He was filled with His Spirit and adorned with the gifts and graces of that Spirit. When His brethren saw this, the Bible shows their jealousy of Jesus.

But in a literal way, Christ was also stripped by those around Him. First, when He was taken to Herod, Luke 23:11 says that they “arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe.” He was later stripped of this. He was also stripped of his own personal tunic, which was an expensive and carefully made garment. The account is recorded in the gospels for us. In John 19 we read –

Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. ²⁴ They said therefore among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: “They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.” Therefore the soldiers did these things. John 19:23, 24

²⁴ Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

Here again we see a picture of Jesus. Last week we saw that Reuben kept the other brothers from killing him. Instead, he told them to throw him into a pit, hoping to rescue him from it. We saw that the word for “pit” is the Hebrew word bowr, a word used symbolically for the place where the dead go.

Joseph is thrown into the pit and so in both intent and in picture, he is symbolically slain by his brothers after having been stripped bare. This is exactly fulfilled in the crucifixion of Christ. He died and his body was placed in the grave. His soul had departed.

Moreover, in this verse, the state of the pit Joseph is thrown into is described not once, but twice in the Hebrew – v’habowr req en bow mayim – “now the pit was empty, without water.”

It is described as both empty and without water when either could have sufficed, but this was again to show us coming pictures. The note that the pit was empty was to picture the unused grave Jesus was laid in. This is found in Luke 23:53 –

“Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before.”

That the pit was without water was to picture that Jesus’ life was gone from the body – water being a picture of life in the Bible. One of many verses to show us this would be the famous passage of Jesus with the woman at the well in John 4:13, 14 –

“Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Joseph’s ordeal, though tragic, has been recorded for more than one reason. It shows us how the dreams that he had actually came about. It also shows the sequence of events which would lead to the Passover. And it shows how these events parallel the greater work of Jesus.

Not only do these things mirror what He will do, but the things they lead to such as the Passover, do the same thing. The Passover again mirrors the cross of Jesus. One story builds into another and then into another, and yet each has hints of what will occur in the life and ministry of the Lord.

No wonder Jesus could claim that the words of Moses testified to Him. Everything written in the past was given in anticipation of His coming and His work. When speaking to the leaders of Israel, He said this –

Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. ⁴⁷ But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” John 5: 45-47

II. Selling Off the Favored Son

²⁵ And they sat down to eat a meal.

Amazingly, even this short sentence, which is only a part of verse 25, shows us a parallel to the time of Jesus’ cross. Joseph was cast into a pit which is a picture and type of Jesus’ death. While there, the brothers sat down to eat a meal. Likewise, when Jesus was crucified and buried, the leaders of Israel sat down to their own meal. In John 18:28 this is recorded –

“Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.”

And again we read this in John 19:41, 42 –

“Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. ⁴² So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.”

Just as Joseph’s brothers coldly ate a meal while their brother was in the pit, the same was true with Israel’s leaders. They feasted and celebrated the Passover while Jesus lay in the tomb.

^{25 (con’t)} Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead…

The plain sense of this verse needs little explanation. They’re eating a meal and along come some Ishmaelites from Gilead along with camels bearing spices that they will take to Egypt to sell. But one must ask, “Why has God included all the detail? Couldn’t he have skipped some of it?”

Well, let’s go back and look at what the names mean. Ishmael means “God hears.” Gilead means the “Perpetual Fountain.” Joseph is in the pit, certainly praying for God’s assistance. God hears him and sends his deliverance. A group traveling from Gilead, the Perpetual Fountain.

In the same way, the psalms prophetically speak of the prayers of the Lord from the pit. In the 16th Psalm it says, “Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust.” Then at the end of the psalm we read the note of victory –

For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
¹¹ You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (10, 11)

^{25 (con’t)} with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt.

Like I said, the Bible could have just recorded the generalities. For example, “They had camels full of goods.” Instead it lists the goods and that they are going to Egypt. Egypt means “double distress.” God chose to include that they were spices, balm, and myrrh specifically to give us a picture of Christ’s death.

Joseph is in the pit, symbolic of death. Jesus is in the tomb, dead. In order to meet the customs of the Jews, it says this in Luke 23:56, speaking of the women who were with Jesus at the cross –

“Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.”

In John 19, we learn that the burial spices included myrrh and aloes, thus we see the parallel brought clearly into focus once again. God is using everything in these accounts to wake us up to what He has done and will do through His precious Son.

²⁶ So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?

Judah is the one who realizes that there is an alternative to leaving him in the pit, something tantamount to killing him. Instead they could profit off the sale of him. And so he devises his plan…

²⁷ Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened.

Judah proposes to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites. Selling Joseph involves the supposition that he is in fact alive. They threw him into the pit and went to eat. To them, he was dead. But now they acknowledge that he is alive. This is important for us to understand what is going on here.

He say’s “he is our brother and our flesh” and from this note it says that his brothers listened. In other words, they agreed to the deed.

²⁸ Then Midianite traders passed by;

Suddenly, and this is hugely curious!, an entirely different group of people are brought into the story. The Ishmaelites were noted. Now, almost completely ignoring that for a moment, it says that “Midianite traders passed by.” Commentators, almost universally lump them in as “Ishmaelites.”

But Midian was a son of Abraham through his concubine Keturah. Ishmael was the son of Hagar. They are an entirely different group of people. They very well may have been traveling together, but God, once again, chooses to single them out by name. Midian means “Place of Judgment.”

This name, “Place of Judgment” bears directly on what is about to happen in this same verse and what it points to in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

^{28 (con’t)} so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit,

Guess what? The Hebrew does not say “so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit.” Rather, the words, “so the brothers” are inserted by translators for what they believe is clarity. Here is Young’s literal translation of this same verse –

“And Midianite merchantmen pass by and they draw out and bring up Joseph out of the pit, and sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silverlings, and they bring Joseph into Egypt.”

Reading it this way, as the Hebrew reads, it says that the Midianites brought him out of the pit and then they sold him to the Ishmaelites. This is similar to what the Jewish scholar Pirk Eliezer believes. The brothers sold him to the Midianites and then they sold them to the Ishmaelites.

There is no confusion in the word at all. The brothers sold him and didn’t even want to see him again. They simply pointed to the pit and let the Midianites get him out. The Midianites then turned and made a quick buck off of re-selling him.

Why though? Why did God choose this wording? The reason is Jesus. He was in the tomb, the Place of Judgment, which is exactly what Midian means. In that pit, our sin was judged in Him and He was judged faithful. God raised Him from the grave, thus signifying that the divine judgment on sin was paid in full.

This is exactingly explained in Romans 5 by Paul –

For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. ¹⁷ For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

God did hear (Ishmael); from the Perpetual Fountain (Gilead), which is His throne; He restored the life of Jesus to His body which was covered in spices and myrrh at the Place of Judgment (Midian). This is why all of these names are given. Each word, selected by God, to show us what is coming in the work of Jesus.

^{28 (con’t)} and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver.

Of all of the pictures of the coming work of Jesus, this one is most commonly associated with it. It is almost universally agreed by commentators and scholars that this is a picture of the money paid to Judas by the leaders of Israel, and I… I completely disagree. Joseph has already been in the pit and Joseph is now brought out of the pit. What Judas did was prior to the crucifixion, not after.

This is picturing something else, something completely different and it’s found in Matthew 28:12-15 –

When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, ¹³ saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ ¹⁴ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” ¹⁵ So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

Money was exchanged to keep people quiet and hide a crime. This is exactly what happens in both instances. Joseph was sold off by his brothers after being brought from the pit and Jesus was sold off by the leaders of Israel after He rose from the grave.

In both cases, the act results in movement from Israel to the gentiles. And in both cases, the movement will eventually return to the Jewish people. Joseph will be reconciled to his brothers after he rules Egypt during seven years of famine. Jesus will be reconciled to His people after the time of the gentiles and during the seven years of tribulation.

Foreigners carried off Joseph to their land, and the gentiles have carried the gospel of Christ into all the world.

^{28 (con’t)} And they took Joseph to Egypt.

The price is paid, the money exchanged hands, and the Ishmaelites take charge of Joseph. He is taken to Egypt, the place of double distress. This is a picture of the message of Jesus going from the Jews to the Gentiles.

The Jews had the law, the gentiles had nothing; they are in double distress. But in a land of no hope, Joseph will bring prosperity and peace. And in the place of no hope for the Gentiles, Jesus will do the same. Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:12, 13

“…that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

III. Jacob’s Anguish

²⁹ Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes.

Apparently, Reuben went out pasturing his flocks and he went in a roundabout manner in order to come back to the pit and deliver Joseph out of it. But when he got there, it was too late. He was already sold. Reuben means, “See, a Son.”

³⁰ And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?”

Reuben hadn’t consented to the sale, nor did he know of it. But when he found that his brother was gone, he tore his clothes, a sign of intense grief and he asked “where shall I go?” Or, as God’s Word translation says it, “What shall I do now?” This is a beautiful picture of the people of Israel who had gathered in Acts chapter 2.

Peter explained what had happened, how the tomb was empty, and the Lord was risen. And verse 37 says this –

“³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?'”

Those Jews whose hearts were softened to the plight of their brother Jesus responded just as Reuben did. For those who repented, they were given the right to be called children of God. See, a Son! Thus the name of Reuben finds its fulfillment in them.

³¹ So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood.

But, there are those who hid the truth of the message of Jesus and who refused to acknowledge their deed, just as the brothers of Joseph plotted to hide what they had done from their father. Regardless of whether they killed their brother or not, the bloodguilt remained.

They had sold him off as a slave, thus condemning him. What this is showing us is a time of rejection of Christ for the Jewish people. The Hebrew for “a kid of the goats” is seir izzim. It is a specific term used in Leviticus 16 for the Day of Atonement rituals.

On that day, two goats were selected using this same term – seir izzim. One was made a sacrifice for the sins of the people and one was used as a scapegoat. The scapegoat had the sins of the people confessed over it and then it was released alive in the wilderness to carry away, or expiate, the sins of the people.

This goat, killed by the brothers is the scapegoat for their deeds, but they killed it to cover what they did, using its blood as a trick against their father. This is a sad, after the fact, note which they had brought on themselves and which is reflected in these words from Matthew 27:25 –

“And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.”

Instead of accepting their King and rejecting Barabbas, they called for Barabbas and accepted the bloodguilt of Christ.

³² Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?”

What is as cowardly as could be, they sent the tunic to their father by a messenger. They didn’t even have the intestinal fortitude to take it themselves so that they could be there to help their father through the grief.

But their actions couldn’t conceal their own guilt anymore than the leaders of Israel could conceal theirs. Joseph’s brothers will admit as much when they go down to Egypt looking for food. And the leaders of Israel knew it also when they tried to force the apostles to be quiet about Jesus. In Acts 5, we read this –

“And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, ²⁸ saying, ‘Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!'”

Our actions can be hidden from other’s eyes, but they can’t be hidden from our own consciences, nor can we hide them from God who sees all things. The Man’s blood was on them.

³³ And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.”

“My son’s tunic.” The ruse worked for the sons of Israel and the ruse worked for the leaders of Israel. Having rejected their Lord, they went about working to seek righteousness in a new way. They codified Jewish law in the Mishna and the Gemara, which together form the Talmud – the code of Jewish living to this day.

Jacob, whose name means “Deceiver” was once again deceived, and Israel has likewise faced the deception concerning Jesus for two millennia. The scapegoat’s blood has remained and it can only be removed when one turns to the Lord and acknowledges their guilt before Him.

In his anguish, he cries out tarowf towraf – “torn torn.” To Jacob their seems no hope and to Israel it seems the same. But God is in control of all things and His heart and affections for His people will always bring about a good end. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. So it will be for Jacob and so it will be for Israel. All in God’s good timing.

³⁴ Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.

Tearing ones clothes is used as a sign of mourning. It would be like someone wearing a black band on their arm or rubbing ashes on their head. He demonstrates his grief openly, and then he puts on sackcloth. This is the first time sackcloth is mentioned in the Bible.

Like tearing one’s clothes, it is used as a sign of mourning. Instead of one’s regular clothes, they’d simply put on this coarse material made from hair which was used for sacks. In this state, it says he “mourned for his son many days.” He was a broken man, now living a shattered existence.

And this is the state that the Bible speaks of for Israel. In Hosea 3:4, 5 it says this –

“⁴ For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. ⁵ Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.”

The name “Jacob” won’t be mentioned again until chapter 42 when he directs his sons to go down to Egypt to buy grain. And isn’t this a perfect picture of the last 2000 years for Israel. They have been a side note of history. Living out mournful years of existence and awaiting their destined meeting with Messiah.

The patterns are rich and extravagant. The parallels are too numerous to dismiss. And Israel’s continuance is a testimony to God’s faithfulness to preserve them, despite the actions of the past.

³⁵ And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.

One of the things that irks me most, and it is almost unanimous among scholars, is to say that “all his sons and all his daughters” doesn’t literally mean “daughters” even though it is in the plural. Jacob could have had 20 daughters and it wouldn’t harm the Bible’s narrative at all by mentioning only Dinah by name.

The reason Dinah was mentioned was because of her relevance to the pictures God was making for our understanding of His work. Daughters are only mentioned when this is the case. In other instances, they are left out of the record. Not because they were unimportant, but because the family line travels through the male.

If your commentary says something like this, put a big fat “X” through it. Jacob had many daughters and they, like his sons, were unable to comfort him in his sadness. Instead, he said that he would go to Sheol, the place of the dead, in mourning for his son.

The word sheol comes from another word shaal which means “to demand.” It is the place which inevitably demands all souls as its own. Jacob knows he will someday be required in Sheol and when he arrives, his hope is to be again with his beloved son, Joseph. Until then, his mourning will continue.

³⁶ Now the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

Once again, your Bible probably doesn’t reflect what the Hebrew text reads. It doesn’t say “Midianites” at all. Instead, it says “Medanites.” Medan is a brother of Midian. Both are sons of Abraham by his concubine Keturah.

Translators and commentators alike simply use the excuse that it is a scribal error, or its another name for the same people, and so on. But the plain sense of it is that the Ishmaelites, Midianites, and Medanites were all involved in the purchase, sale, and resale of Joseph.

Where Midian means “Place of Judgment,” Medan means simply “Judgment.” This is not arbitrary nor a mistake. Jesus was brought out of the Place of Judgment when he was brought out of the tomb. Now through that Judgment He is brought to the place of double distress where He rules during this dispensation. He sits in judgment.

When Joseph is brought to Egypt, he is sold to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, also called the captain of the guard. Potiphar is a name which is hard to pin down, but in essence it means “Priest of the Bull” in the Coptic Egyptian language.

Interestingly enough, the bull pictures the High Priest of Israel and so ultimately the work of Jesus. Once again, it appears that even the names in this last verse of the chapter are pointing to the on-going ministry of Jesus as our High Priest – the Priest of the Bull.

When a name is relevant to the story, it is given. When it isn’t, then no name is given. There is only one reason why Potiphar’s name is given and that’s because of what his name pictures. Jesus is our High Priest, a duty He performs for us before God. Joseph is brought here to show us where Jesus went to minister as well.

Finally, the term used to designate Potiphar as the Captain of the Guard is literally “captain of the slaughterers”, meaning the executioners. He would be the commanding officer who executed capital sentences. Why this name is important will come about later in how he treats Joseph over an offense in his house.

This is the end of the chapter and I’d like to remind you that God is never mentioned throughout all of the 36 verses.

Like chapter 34, which dealt with the sins of the sons of Israel, this one too deals with their sins. It shows that when they lived without God, they failed. The same is true with Israel the nation. When they are obedient to their Lord, they will receive blessing and honor. And when they disobey, they will suffer loss.

But through obedience or disobedience, God has remained faithful to them. Keeping them, tending to them, and preparing them for each step of His marvelous plan of redemption. And Israel, in a way, pictures us. When we include God in our lives, all goes far better than when we put Him on the shelf.

Let each of us strive to live for, and honor, this wonderful God who has given such minute attention to His word, that we can see His Son time and again… I love You – and my Son is the proof.

If you’ve never called on Jesus, but would like to have a personal relationship with Him today, let me tell you how it can happen…

Closing Verse: For Your word’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all these great things, to make Your servant know them. ²² Therefore You are great, O Lord God. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 2 Samuel 7:21, 22

Next Week: Genesis 38:1-23 (Judah and Tamar, The Transfer of the Pledge) (95th Genesis Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you and He has a good plan and purpose for you. Call on Him and let Him do marvelous things for you and through you.

The Pit of Despair

So it came to pass, in a plot so thick
When Joseph had come to his brothers
That they stripped Joseph of his tunic
The tunic on him, the one of many colors

Then they took him and cast him into a pit
And the pit was empty; there was no water in it

And they sat down to eat a meal
Thinking what they had done was no big deal

Then they lifted their eyes and looked
And there were Ishmaelites in a company
Coming from Gilead with their camels
Bearing spices, balm, and myrrh abundantly

They were on their way, we are told
To carry them down to Egypt, where they would be sold

So Judah to his brothers said
“What profit is there if we kill our brother
And conceal his blood when he is dead
When we kill him, the son of our father

Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites
And let not our hand be upon him
For he is our brother and our flesh, isn’t that right?
Let us not with malice do our brother in

And his brothers listened
In their minds, the thought of silver glistened

Then Midianite traders passed by
So the brothers pulled Joseph up from there
And lifted him out of the pit so dry
And sold him to the Ishmaelites without a care

For twenty shekels of silver he was sold
And they took Joseph to Egypt, just 17 years old

Then Reuben returned to the pit
And indeed Joseph was not there in it

And he tore his clothes in dread
As a sign of his overwhelming woe
And he returned to his brothers and said
“The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?”

So they took Joseph’s tunic in their hands
And then of the goats they killed a kid
And dipped the tunic in the blood as part of their plans
This is the dastardly thing that they did

Then they sent the tunic of many colors
And they brought it to their father and said
“We have found this. Do you know whether it is our brother’s?
It is your son’s tunic or not?” We think he is dead

And he recognized it and said,
“It is my son’s tunic, not that of another
A wild beast has devoured him, now he is dead
Certainly torn to pieces is Joseph your brother

Then Jacob tore his clothes in his grief
And put sackcloth on his waist
And mourned for his son many days with no relief
The memory of what happened couldn’t be erased

And all his sons and all his daughters arose
To comfort him; but he refused their tries
To be comforted, and he said in his woes
Nothing will stop the tears in my eyes

For I shall go down into Sheol
In mourning will I go to my son
Thus his father wept for him in his soul
This is the result of what they had done

Now the Midianites had sold him in Egypt
To Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh
He was the captain of the guard
Those who carried the bow and the arrow

The life of Joseph has taken a sad turn
And he seems doomed to misery and woe
But from this story soon we will learn
That God had a great plan, one He did foreknow

Like all things, we should trust that God is in control
And so to Him our cares and troubles we should roll

His love is greater by far for each of us
Than we could ever fully recognize
And it is demonstrated beautifully in the giving of Jesus
The most glorious gift from our Creator so wise

And so in gratitude to our glorious Lord above
May we return to Him our undying, undivided love

Hallelujah and Amen…

 

Genesis 37:12-22
The Son is Sent

Introduction: Today we’re continuing on with the life of Joseph. Just as God unfolded parts of His plan through stories about Jacob, He is doing the same with Joseph now. Every story contains lessons about how we can and should interact with others. They also continuously show us man’s failures, even the great heroes of the faith that we hold to.

God doesn’t hide or gloss over these things, but rather exposes them for all to see. Every time such a story comes about, along with being appalled at our fallen state, we should marvel at the grace of God who continues to bear with us despite our actions. Today’s story is a perfect example of this.

Jealousy turns to hatred and then hatred turns into a conspiracy to commit murder. If God’s chosen family acts in such a way, can we look in the mirror and claim we are any better? Rather, the recesses of our hearts are deep chambers of wickedness which can overflow at any time if we don’t guard our conduct closely. Let’s endeavor to do just that.

Text Verse: My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.
¹¹ If they say, “Come with us,
Let us lie in wait to shed blood;
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
¹² Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,
And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;
¹³ We shall find all kinds of precious possessions,
We shall fill our houses with spoil;
¹⁴ Cast in your lot among us,
Let us all have one purse”—
¹⁵ My son, do not walk in the way with them,
Keep your foot from their path; Proverbs 1:10-15

God warns us to stay away from trouble-makers and those who would entice us to sin. We may have friends or co-workers who have a “plan” which is intended to make us rich or get ahead, but it may involve something contrary to God’s word. If so, there can be no true profit in it. Let’s be careful to adhere to what the Bible says as it is written and intended for our good. And so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Sent on a Mission

¹² Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.

Jacob is, at this time, living in Hebron. During this period, Joseph had his dreams concerning his brothers sheaves bowing down to his sheaf, and then the 12 stars and the sun and moon bowing down to him. At some point after this, his brothers went back to Shechem to feed their flocks.

This is the same place which Jacob bought from Hamor and the same area where they had killed all of the males of the town. Thus, through both purchase and conquest, they owned the entire area. So far they’d been safe since killing the city’s residents, and so they must have felt it was ok to go back to the area now.

Shechem is about 60 miles north of Hebron and traveling at a shepherd’s pace, it would have taken 20 to 30 hours to get there, maybe longer. It would be like us getting up and walking with a flock of animals to Tampa or beyond. That may seem like a long way to go just to feed a bunch of animals, but they must of had a reason. Maybe it hadn’t rained enough in the south for awhile.

The area of Shechem is now, and certainly was then, well watered and so there was probably plenty of food and water for the flocks. Whatever the reason, God used the distance to bring about a chain of events which would lead to the fulfillment of Joseph’s dreams.

¹³ And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem?

The name “Israel” is mentioned only twice in this chapter. Once it is speaking of his love for Joseph and then this time when he speaks to Joseph directly. Later, when he hears of his son’s supposed death, he will be called Jacob. There is Jacob, the deceiver, who will be deceived, and there is Israel who struggles with God. In this verse, he is Israel.

And so Israel says to Joseph, the beloved son, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem?” A question like this doesn’t mean that either Jacob or Joseph was ignorant of the matter. Rather, it was a way of introducing a line of thought.

It is a rhetorical question like others frequently used throughout both the Old and New Testaments. The question is a statement of fact. Jesus did the same thing when He spoke to people around Him –

“Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God.” Luke 12:6

Jesus and the people knew that in fact five sparrows are sold for two copper coins. In the same way, Jacob is preparing Joseph for his direction by asking what is already obvious.

^{13 (con’t)} Come, I will send you to them.”

By introducing his thought as a question, it alleviates any later explanation. Jacob has said where the brothers are and what they’re doing. So all he has to do is give his direction and anticipate the response. We do this all the time in English without realizing it.

When mom walks out to the table with a plate full of yummy pancakes and says, “Who wants pancakes?” she already knows the answer. By asking the question, she has already told what is being served and avoided additional questions and answers. I’m explaining all of this because it bears on what is being pictured.

Jacob is now a picture of God the Father. Joseph, in type, pictures Jesus, beloved of the Father. Joseph is hated by his brothers, something which was specifically noted three times last week – in verses 4, 5, and 8. Jesus, likewise, knew He was to be hated by His brothers.

Jacob didn’t know what Joseph’s brothers would do to him, but the picture is still clear. God the Father, despite knowing what would come about, sent His beloved Son from His heavenly home to the wicked world to seek and save us. The plotting of man and the death of Jesus would eventually save many people alive.

^{13 (con’t)} So he said to him, “Here I am.”

Joseph has been at home while his brothers have been working with the flocks. This tells us that he is certainly the overseer of the brothers. The long, beautiful robe he had wasn’t something one would work in, but rather supervise with. When he goes to Shechem, it will be to check up on the progress and the well-being of his brothers.

It should be noted that as soon as Jacob spoke, Joseph responded, and he did so without hesitation in his words. Rather, he replied, “Here I am.” When God asked for a volunteer from Isaiah, the same thing happened –

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”
Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” Isaiah 6:8

And in Hebrews 10, quoting the 40th Psalm, Jesus responds in the same manner, something which is actually being pictured in this portion of the life of Joseph –

Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for Me.
⁶ In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure.
⁷ Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—
In the volume of the book it is written of Me—
To do Your will, O God.’” Hebrews 10:6, 7

Throughout the Bible, there have been many calls by God to His people. Some have answered like Joseph does to Jacob, “Here I am.” Abraham was like this. He was asked to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering and he responded immediately.

Others have lingered, like Lot before the destruction of Sodom where it says he hesitated. Some have partly obeyed, like Saul. This cost him the kingship. Others have tried to deflect the calling through excuse, like Moses. All this did was to kindle the Lord’s wrath. And Jonah, Jonah tried to run away and hide from the Lord.

If you’re a faithful Christian, then God has certainly called you at one time or another, and He will do so again. There are many answers we could give – “Just a minute Lord”, “I’m busy Lord”, “I’m afraid Lord”, whatever.

But the response He will be pleased with is, “Yes Lord, here I am.” Keep this in mind as you are led to respond to the Lord’s call in your life. Be ready and willing to step up and accept that His will is always the right path.

¹⁴ Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.”

In Hebrew Jacob says, lekh na re’eh eth shalom, “go see if there is peace.” (2:29). Jacob is looking to make sure that the family is ok and that the flocks are ok. If so, he was to bring back the news. Again, this shows that Jacob had assigned Joseph as the overseer.

The sons of Israel are in the place where they had killed the entire town. Because of where they were, Jacob may have wondered if everything was ok with them. But there is more to it than that because he also mentions the flocks.

He obviously would know that if the brothers were ok that the flocks should be ok too, unless the brothers weren’t properly tending to the flocks. And so here we see that the chief shepherd isn’t only to be concerned with the shepherds, but the flocks too.

In other words, Joseph’s responsibility is for even the weakest of the sheep. This is beautifully realized in Jesus. To get a full appreciation of this, take time today to read Ezekiel chapter 34.

In that passage you’ll see how the Lord watches over and judges the shepherds of the flocks to ensure that the whole flock is safe. Joseph here, and the Lord in Ezekiel, are both seen fulfilled in Jesus’ work in the New Testament, especially in John 10 –

I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. ¹⁵ As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

^{14 (con’t)} So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.

Jacob and Joseph have been in the Valley of Hebron. The term is emek hevron. The idea of a valley is a place of depth and the meaning of Hevron is that of conjoining or attachment. I would suggest that this name is included in this verse to give us an insight into the incarnation of Christ.

It is the only time in the Bible the term, the Valley of Hebron or emek hevron, is used. Any other time, only the name Hebron is given. I would submit, without trying to overreach here, that this is specifically named to show us that from this place of depth comes the conjoining of God and man in the Person of Jesus.

Joseph is being sent out of the Valley of Hebron; Jesus was sent from the unsearchable counsels of God. The root for the word “valley” which is the same in spelling, but with a different pronunciation is used in this manner in Psalm 92:5 –

“O Lord, how great are Your works!
Your thoughts are very deep.”

And so I see that emek hevron has been included by God to picture the coming Savior, Jesus. As Romans 11:33 says, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!”

The valley of Hebron, the depth of the conjoining is, in other words, the uniting of the wisdom of God with humanity; the incarnation.

II. Two Wells

¹⁵ Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”

Here is Joseph, having arrived at his father’s field in Shechem, and his brothers aren’t there. As he wandered the area, a man asked him what he’s seeking. There is dispute over who this person was. He’s not named or identified, so all we have is speculation.

Whoever he is, the Lord had him there when Joseph’s brothers were there, and he has him there now to ensure that Joseph would be led to them. Here again is a picture of Jesus. Joseph is seeking the lost just as Jesus came to seek and save the lost.

The brothers may not have felt lost, but to Joseph they were. That is the important thing that we need to see. The leaders of Israel certainly didn’t think they were lost, nor did they think they were misleading their flock, but they were. Jesus was sent to fix this.

¹⁶ So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”

Joseph, not sure where his brothers are asks the man where they have gone. His question is ephoh hem ro’im (2:56) “Where are they pasturing.” In essence, “If they’re not here feeding the flocks, then where have they gone?”

Let’s think this through. The brothers were to have been in Shechem, which is where their father was told they would be. The concept of feeding the flocks in the Bible translates directly into the concept of proper teaching of the word.

One of the Bible’s explicit examples of this is found in 1 Peter 5 and is beautifully reflected in what we see in this picture of Joseph and his brothers –

“Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; ³ nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; ⁴ and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.” (2-4)

Keep thinking of who each represents. The sons of Israel picture the leaders of the tribes. The flocks represent the multitudes. Joseph is going to check on the shepherds and their flocks, just as God sent Jesus to check on the leaders of the flocks and the condition of those flocks.

But Joseph’s brothers have diverted from where they said they would be. They are lost to Joseph; a keen parallel to the state of Israel, as well as the church anytime that the leaders stray.

¹⁷ And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’”

Dothan is a location about 12 miles due north of Shechem. Unlike many names of people and places in the Bible, there is little disagreement about the meaning of the name of Dothan. It means “two wells.”

As we learn in John chapter 4 the piece of land where they were in Shechem contained Jacob’s well, but Dothan has two wells. As wells in the Bible picture the place where one’s life-spring is derived, the picture we’re to learn from this is that the sons of Israel thought they would fare better with two wells for their flocks. What could that mean?

If we look at this in a spiritual sense then, it is exactly what is seen throughout the span of the nation of Israel and even the church. God’s people trade the true waters of life for false waters, or mix the two rather than sticking to the one true Source of their existence. This is explained quite clearly to us in Jeremiah 2:13 –

“For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,
And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.

There are pits which can hold water and there are those which cannot. There are wells which nourish and there are those which disappoint. In the end, only the fountain of living waters will do. Someone has to lead the flocks and someone has to seek the lost.

The people of Jeremiah’s time, as well as at Jesus’ time, had forsaken the true water of life and had hewn for themselves broken cisterns. This is what we are told again and again and again in the Bible – to stand on the word of God and never mix in anything which could defile that, nor are we to turn to another well in hopes of being refreshed.

The well is the place of spiritual nourishment and the true well is found only in Christ. And Christ is only properly revealed in the Bible.

^{17 (con’t)} So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

Instead of turning back home to his father, Joseph went on to Dothan in order to find his brothers and he found them there. Instead of turning away from His wayward people who had added every type of legalism and error into God’s law, Jesus proceeded onward to His own brothers where He found them… in the place of two wells.

III. The Lord of Dreams

¹⁸ Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him.

Even from a long distance, the brothers knew who Joseph was. Probably, above all they could tell because of his ornate coat. But his manner of walking, his stature, and how he carried himself told them as well. The same is true with Jesus. In John chapter 3 it says this about the leaders of Israel and their perception of Jesus –

“Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” John 3:2

Like Nicodemus, they actually knew they were dealing with a representative from God when they saw Jesus, even if they didn’t fully understand it. But just as the brothers of Joseph conspired against him, the leaders of Israel likewise conspired against Jesus. The son and father relationship is seen in both Joseph and in this verse from John 5 about Jesus –

Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. John 5:18

Again, as seen in Matthew 26, the leaders of Israel conspired against Jesus, just as the brothers are conspiring against Joseph –

³ Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, ⁴ and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him. (3, 4)

¹⁹ Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming!

The book of Matthew is 28 chapters long and each of those chapters has one or several links, or hidden connections, to the first 28 books of the Bible. In Genesis, there are no less than four of these links. One of them is in the dreams of Joseph.

In Genesis, Joseph the son of Jacob, is shown to have dreams. In Matthew 1, Joseph the legal father of Jesus was given dreams as well. There is a difference here though. The dreams of Joseph, the father of Jesus, were intended to save Jesus, but the dreams of Joseph here were used as an excuse to kill him.

But, as God often does, these intentions will be turned around in order to save the people of Israel, just as happened with the dreams of Joseph in Matthew. In this verse, Joseph is called ba’al ha’khalomowt (3:20) a lord of dreams.

They are using it as a term of derision. Dreams, if prophetic, could only come from God and so they are deriding him as blasphemous. Clearly, though intended as a derogatory title, God intends for us to see Jesus in this as well. Jesus is the true Lord of dreams.

Throughout the Bible, Jehovah is the one who directs man’s dreams, both in the giving and interpretation of them. And so even though the title is meant one way when spoken by his brothers about Joseph, it is intended – in its fullest sense – in another way when picturing Christ.

²⁰ Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit;

At Dothan, the place of the two pits, the brothers intend to kill Joseph and cast him into one of the pits. The word for “pit” here is the Hebrew word bowr. It is used symbolically in the Bible for the place where the dead go. There is Sheol, the place of the dead, but there is also the pit. This is seen, for example, in Psalm 30 –

O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave;
You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Psalm 30:3

In the brother’s hatred of Joseph, they have gone so far as to contemplate murder. The parallel with Jesus is obvious. And this brings up a point that every one of us should think about. These brothers have been stewing over this for some time and in a place many miles from home.

The fact is that none of us are above committing a crime of one sort or another, even going as far as murder. How we handle life’s temptations and trials is up to each of us and the way that we will keep ourselves from these things is to hand them over to the Lord.

Nothing is hidden from the eyes of God and our hearts are open and they’re exposed before Him. If we can remember this, it will help us in any situation. When we’re anxious, we’ll have the knowledge that He is there with us.

When we’re facing sickness, we can remind ourselves that He directs our health, from the day we were born until the day we die. And when we are filled with anger, jealousy, or bitterness, all we really need is to hand it over to Him. Whatever the situation, let go of your pride and humble yourself before the Lord. That’s what Peter tells to do,

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, ⁷ casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6, 7

^{20 (con’t)} and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

Jealousy, murder, conspiracy, and lying in one verse. Not only do they hate Joseph, but they had no regard at all for their father. All they could think of was doing away with Joseph. As was the case with chapter 34 in the incident with their sister Dinah, the Lord is never mentioned in this entire chapter. Not in general and not specifically. He is entirely left out of the picture.

The covenant children of the covenant line of God have completely failed to meet their responsibilities as the covenant people. Again, as the Bible notes often, it is a picture of the people of Israel. They are either striving with God, for God, or – as in this case, striving with God, against Him.

The sons of Israel here are reflective of the elders of Israel mentioned in the first few verses of the 2nd Psalm –

Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
² The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
³ “Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”

The brothers plotted their deed against the favorite son of their father. They wanted to cast off his rule and his authority just as the leaders of Israel did to the Lord, the favorite Son of the Father. In both cases though, God’s plan would prevail.

What was intended for evil turned out so beautifully, that people still marvel over His glorious work thousands of years later. Jacob’s family will be saved from famine and death, and a world full of people will be saved from hell.

²¹ But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.”

The Bible doesn’t specifically tell why Reuben protested the plan, but scholars generally attribute it to his heart being more tender than the other brothers. Rather, the explanation is hinted at in Genesis 42. When they stand in Joseph’s presence in Egypt, not knowing it is him, Reuben will say this –

“Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us.” Genesis 42:22

This was what God spoke to Noah about 600 years earlier –

Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.
⁶ “Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God
He made man. Genesis 9:5, 6

Even if God is left out of this chapter explicitly, He is there implicitly, both in the direction of the events and in the conscience of Reuben which is based on the law of shedding man’s blood.

²² And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.

Reuben was no stranger to wrongdoing. Back in chapter 35, he slept with his father’s wife Bilhah. But he knew there was a line which should never be crossed, and that line was murder. He’d seen it in his two younger brothers, Simeon and Levi, when they killed the males of Shechem.

Because of what he did with Bilhah, he may already have known that Jacob wouldn’t give him the birthright. And the same is true with Simeon and Levi. However, by rescuing Joseph, he may have hoped to regain his father’s favor after what he had done.

Whether that is the case or not, he intended to keep Joseph alive and have him returned home safely. We have to leave the story off here today and we will pick it up again next week. As you can see, it’s all pointing to Jesus. Every word, every title, every single thing that happens is recorded for this purpose – that God might reveal His Son to us so that we might hear the word and believe.

If God put so much care into His word, taking thousands of years to bring it to us, how much does He truly care about you! If you’ve not made a commitment to this precious Lord who came to bring you new life, please give me a moment to give you the simple way that you too can receive His pardon and restore you to His Father…

Closing Verse: Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity! Psalm 133:1

Next Week: Genesis 37:23-36 (In and Out of the Pit of Despair) (94th Genesis Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you and He has a good plan and purpose for you. Call on Him and let Him do marvelous things for you and through you.

Sending out the Son

Joseph’s brothers went to feed
In Shechem, their father’s flock
And Israel said to Joseph, “Please take heed
Listen, while to you I talk

Are not your brothers this very day
Feeding the flock in Shechem?
Come, I will send you out their way
So he said to him, “Here I am.”

Then he said to him, “Please go and see
If it is well with your brothers, the flocks too
And then bring back word to me
This is the thing that I ask of you

So of out of the Valley of Hebron he was sent
And Joseph headed for Shechem as he went

Now a certain man found him, maybe praying
And there he was in the field, wandering
And the man asked him, saying,
“What are you seeking? Or what are you pondering?

So he said, “I am seeking my brothers here today
Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks”
Can you say?

And the man said, “They have departed from here,
For I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan,
That’s kind of near

So Joseph, after his brothers, off he went
And found them in Dothan right where he was sent

Now when they saw him afar off still
Even before he came too near
They conspired against him to kill
For God’s law they showed no fear

Then they said each to one another
“Look, this dreamer is headed our way!
Therefore, let us now kill Joseph our brother
And cast him into some pit this very day

And we shall say, ‘He was devoured by some wild beast
What will become of his dreams when his life has ceased?

But Reuben heard it, the thing they said
And he delivered him out of their hands
And spoke, “Let us not his blood shed
He was not in favor of their plans

And Reuben said to them in his address
“Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit
Which is out here in wilderness
And do not lay a hand on him; do not do it

He said this that he might deliver him out of their hands
And bring him back to his father, stopping their evil plans

Another conspiracy took place in the Bible’s pages
And it led to the highlight of God’s great plan
Which was prophesied for many ages…

Israel’s leaders and Roman officials as well
Crucified Jesus on a tree at Calvary
But in truth, the Bible has more of the story to tell
He died for the sins of people like you and me

God knew that without the cross we simply had no chance
And that the devil would eternally reign over us
But because of it we are freed from hell’s dark expanse
And brought into the wondrous light of our Lord, Christ Jesus

And so may we with hearts of grateful praise
And voices of song to our God employ
Yes, to our Lord Jesus let us eternally raise
A triumphant shout overflowing with joy

Hallelujah and Amen…

Genesis 37:1-11
Sheaves of the Field and Stars of the Sky

Introduction: For many, many chapters, Jacob has been the center of focus in the pages of the Bible. As we saw, his life was used in a most dramatic way to reveal what would come about in the future as God unfolds history before our eyes.

We’ve been able to use him as a reference for so many points in history. Some have come to pass and some are yet to happen, but they were laid out for us to see and believe. Now, as suddenly as Abraham and Isaac left the center of focus, Jacob does the same.

Joseph now becomes the focal point of the narrative with a couple of brief interludes concerning Judah, Jacob’s fourth son. But Jacob will mostly be on the sidelines from this point until just prior to his death. The stories and pictures which issue from Joseph’s life are no less wonderful than those which we saw in Jacob.

We’ll not hurry through these coming chapters, and we’ll look for Christ as we go, knowing that He is truly the focus of all of Scripture, as He Himself told us. The name Joseph means, “He shall add.” May these stories about him add to our understanding of God’s beautiful plan of redemption.

Text Verse: For God may speak in one way, or in another,
Yet man does not perceive it.
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night,
When deep sleep falls upon men,
While slumbering on their beds,
16 Then He opens the ears of men,
And seals their instruction. Job 33:14-16

When reading about dreams in the Bible and seeing that they are actually prophecies, we need to be careful to not assume that every dream we have is a prophecy or a vision from God. God’s word is written and we have everything we need in it to understand what He desires from us and for us.

Since the completion of the work of Christ, other than Acts chapter 2, which was spoken to the Jewish people by Peter who is the Apostle to the Jews, dreams as prophetic utterances are never mentioned as being applicable to us. As this is so, we can make the logical assumption that they are not intended as a tool for us during this dispensation of time.

I bring this up because we can lose a foothold on sound Christianity very easily by pursuing dreams or those who have had dreams. We have the Bible, we have God’s revealed word, and that word is all-sufficient for our faith and practice and so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. The Genealogy of Jacob

¹ Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.

In the previous chapter, we saw Esau’s move from Canaan to Seir. This verse then is to remind us that Jacob is the son of promise and the one who has remained in Canaan. Here it says that he “dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger.”

While Esau’s line had moved to and possessed the land where they lived, the son of the promised line is still living as a stranger. It will be several hundred years before the Israelites will possess the land of Canaan as the sons of Esau did in their own land. After the death of Abraham, it was Isaac who was noted, just as Jacob is now –

“And it came to pass, after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac dwelt at Beer Lahai Roi.” Genesis 25:11

The Bible is reminding us of who is in the covenant line and that God’s plans are being worked out through this line. These men, dwelling in tents as pilgrims, are noted to show that they were waiting on an eternal inheritance. Hebrews 11 explains it to us –

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. (13)

Along with the record of this main line, incidents occur which are selected by God to show us pictures of what will be seen in Christ. The coming chapters dealing with Joseph are no different.

The line of the Messiah comes through Judah, not Joseph. But Joseph’s life will be a rich tapestry of pictures of what God will do in the world through His Son, Jesus. The amazing depth of how the stories in Joseph’s life picture Christ is truly wonderful.

² This is the history of Jacob.

We now come to the eleventh set of “generations” listed in the Bible. This is the last set in Genesis. But, unlike the other genealogies, no listing of descendants is given.

I see two reasons for this. The first is that the sons of Israel were named just towards the end of chapter 35. The second is that Jacob is the last individual son of promise. From him will come the people of Israel and all 12 sons are included in the covenant.

This history then is less of a list of names followed by historical information, than that of a detailed historical account of what happens to the family all the way through to his death in the land of Egypt. In order, the previous lists of generations were –

The generations of the heavens and the earth (2:4); the generations of Adam (5:1); the generations of Noah (6:9); the generations of the sons of Noah (10:1); the generations of Shem (11:10); the generations of Terah (11:27); the generations of Ishmael (25:12), and the generations of Isaac (25:19). Now this is the genealogy of Esau, who is Edom. (36:1).  The genealogy of Esau the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir. (36:9)

God’s funnel, His line of selected people who would lead to the Messiah, and those who branch off from that line, is coming more and more into focus. Every detail is precise and is relevant.

If all of this meticulous attention is given to get us to the Messiah, then think about how meticulous He is in how He handles your relationship with the Messiah. (DISCUSS)

^2 (con’t) Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers.

This story actually begins before some of the details in chapter 35. Isaac’s death has already been recorded, but he will actually be alive for about thirteen more years. Jacob is, at this time about 107 years old and Isaac is about 166 years old. Joseph is 17 and so this is somewhere right around the year 2275 AM.

Throughout the next many chapters, Joseph will be a type of Christ. The number of similarities between the two are so overwhelming that one can come to no other conclusion. The record of his birth and the giving of his name were the first of such pictures.

If you remember His mother was Rachel, meaning “lamb.” The son of a lamb is a lamb and Jesus is called a “the Lamb who was slain” in Revelation 13:8. The giving of the name Joseph came from two words – asaph (to take away) and yoseph, to add.

Jesus was, according to the Apostle Paul, the one who took away the reproach of the law and added gentiles to His fold. Now this son will continue to be used an incredible amount of times to prefigure the Jesus. This verse is the first of them. He is feeding the flock with his brothers; he is a shepherd. Thus he pictures the Lord who said, “I am the good shepherd.” John 10:11

^2 (con’t)And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives;

The sons of Bilhah and Zilpah were Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. There is speculation about why he is with these four, but what is implied is that he is the one in superintendence over them. He is their chief shepherd, a term used of Jesus in 1 Peter 5:4.

If you remember what the two maids pictured, then you might see why this verse is included. They picture the exiles of the people of Israel, and therefore the sons are sons of exile – disobedient sons.

^2 (con’t) and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.

As the faithful steward over God’s house, Jesus is the One who handles the affairs of his people. Joseph brought a bad report of the sons of the two wives to his father and Jesus is the Lord who brought the bad report of the disobedient sons of Israel to God the Father, resulting in their exiles.

Look at the symbolism so far in just one verse about Joseph. There is so much more ahead as his life will be unfolded before us in a beautiful picture of the true Shepherd and Overseer, Jesus.

³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age.

The name Jacob is used three times in this chapter. The name Israel is used twice. Both times Israel is used, it is in connection with Joseph. Here it says Israel loved Joseph more than all his children. And the reason is given, “he was the son of his old age.”

Most people take this to mean that Jacob had Joseph when he was old, but he had Benjamin after Joseph, so this doesn’t make sense. The term in Hebrew is ben zequnim hu. Literally translated, it says “son of old age to him.” This then probably would be a phrase meaning, “a wise son.”

It’s not speaking of Jacob’s advanced physical age, but Joseph’s advanced mental age. Joseph had wisdom and understanding beyond his 17 years and Jacob loved him for this quality. God has many “sons” listed in the Bible in various contexts, but there is One that He loves above all others, His only begotten – Jesus.

This love is seen and noted throughout the New Testament, starting right at Matthew 3:17 –

“And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'”

The wisdom of Joseph pictures the greater wisdom of Jesus, noted in many passages, such as this one in Isaiah –

The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. Isaiah 11:2

So here in this verse we have a beautiful picture of Christ, the Son of Father and yet, the Ancient of Days – a title given about Christ in Daniel chapter 7. This Ancient Son, filled with wisdom from eternity past, is loved above all others by His Father, just as Joseph, this wise son, is loved above all his brothers.

^3 (con’t) Also he made him a tunic of many colors.

This special tunic is called in Hebrew ketonet passim. The term comes from a word which means, properly, the palm of the hand or sole of the foot. By implication, because of the plural form, it would cover the whole body, reaching to both the hands and the feet. What is implied is that Joseph, wearing such a garment, would be an overseer, not one doing manual labor.

The garment is usually translated as a coat of many colors. However, its stripes either varied in weaving or varied in color, but it’s not really certain which. This term is used only one other time in the Bible, in 2 Samuel 13:18 when referring to the robes of the daughters of King David –

“Now she had on a robe of many colors, for the king’s virgin daughters wore such apparel. And his servant put her out and bolted the door behind her.”

The beautifully ornate robe of Joseph reflects the same type of garment worn by the Lord. It is His human body, filled with and adorned with the grace and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Joseph’s garment would have been a symbol of his beloved status and his place of authority.

Jesus’ life and actions, as guided by the Spirit, filled those same roles. The reason I’m being so detailed in this is because if this coat is speaking of Jesus’ spiritual graces, then the connection can be drawn directly to us.

I just showed you that the only other time this type of garment is mentioned is for that of the virgin daughters of King David. David, like Joseph, pictures Jesus. The symbolism that we can draw from this is found in 2 Corinthians 11. There Paul writes this –

“For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ  ³ But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. ⁴ For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!” (2-4)

In other words, the same graces of the Spirit which adorn Jesus are to adorn us as well. We, like the virgin daughters of the King, are to be ready to be presented to our groom, Christ Jesus. Our religion and the gospel we adhere to is to be pure and undefiled.

Finally, the symbolism of the full body garment follows through even into heaven itself. Now, we see it realized in its fullness in the garments worn by Jesus in His heavenly dwelling. This is openly noted in Revelation 1:12, 13 –

“Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.”

⁴ But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

Joseph is the father’s favorite, but not of his brothers. The hatred has nothing to do with the bad report mentioned earlier. This verse is talking about all the brothers. Without a true cause, but merely out of jealousy because “their father loved him more,” they couldn’t even speak peaceably to him.

In Hebrew, the normal greeting is shalom lekha – peace to you. This is the greeting they failed to even utter to their brother. In Hebrew it says, v’lo yakhelu da’bero l’shalom (44). It’s not that they couldn’t speak peacefully to him so much as they couldn’t speak peace to him. In reality, they wished him harm.

Likewise, the Jews around Jesus, His own brothers of the flesh, hated him and couldn’t speak peace to Him. Instead, their words were harmful and they plotted His death at every turn. This is perfectly realized in Jesus. John 15:25 is a good example of this –

But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’

In their hatred of Jesus, they didn’t just fail to speak peacefully to Him, they failed to speak peace to Him. They intended and they followed through with harm towards Him. As we’ll see, the hatred, and the harm which follows to Joseph, will be used by God for the sake of all of Jacob’s home.

The same is true with Jesus. The people intended Him harm and they went through with their intentions, but this was known by God and it was used by Him for all people everywhere. Out of tragedy, God can weave a beautifully joyous tapestry.

This thought is seen in John chapter 11 –

⁴⁹ And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, ⁵⁰ nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.” ⁵¹ Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, ⁵² and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.

These type of lessons from Joseph’s life should give us the same type of comfort in our own trials. When we think everything is out of control, this is when God shines through all the more brightly. LIFE APPLICATION

II. Joseph’s First Dream

⁵ Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more.

Verses 5 through 8 form what is known as a chiasm. This is a pattern which says something and then turns around and says the same thing in the opposite direction. These are literary devices which tell us something that God intends for us to see. I found this chiasm while preparing this sermon and I’ll show it to you so you can see how it works –

Genesis 37:5-8 – Joseph’s Dream
Israel Bows to the King (08/26/13)

a. Concerning Joseph’s dream spoken to his brothers
b. they hated him even more
c. So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have
dreamed: (giving of the dream)
x. There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then
behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and
indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down
to my sheaf.”
c. And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over
us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?”
(explanation of the dream)
b. they hated him even more
a. Concerning his dreams and his words to his brothers

This particular chiasm is showing us that even though he was already hated, it is his rule and authority which is what they truly resent. As he pictures Jesus, what we see is painfully clear. The tribes of Israel, represented by these sons, wanted nothing to do with their God-ordained King.

It will take many years and painful lessons for them to come to the point where they acknowledge him as their leader and bow down to him. The same is true with Jesus.

⁶ So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed:

He now tells them the dream and their hostility towards him will only grow because of it. The anger though is less because of how the message is received than what the message says. And this same thing will follow through the entire Bible.

When prophets speak, they are hated for the message itself, not because of how they received it – be it in a dream, a vision, or God speaking directly to them. They are hated for the words they turn around and tell to the people. Read the book of Jeremiah just once and you’ll see this time and again.

What God reveals is far more offensive to those who hate Him than how He reveals it. This is true with what we would call His natural revelation through creation. We’re happy with what He has created, but we hate what it tells us, and so we make stuff like evolution up to hide our faces from the reality we see.

It is true with His special revelation which came through prophets and the Bible. People say they love the Bible and they love Jesus all the time, but they pick and choose the parts of the Bible they like or don’t like, including the words of Jesus, because they actually hate what the overall message says.

Churches dedicate monuments of ostentation to the very thing they hate. Professors spend years in education first learning and then teaching Bible disciplines while at the same time dismissing the words they teach. Jacob’s brothers hated both the message and him because of the message. How accurately he pictures Jesus here.

⁷ There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

This dream is so obvious that anyone reading it, even for the first time, should be able to see what is being said. Verse 5 says that he told the dream to his brothers, meaning all of them.

Joseph says, v’hineh (behold!) There are the 12 sons of Israel, binding sheaves in the field. He then repeats his exclamation v’hineh! Something big and important happened. “My sheaf arose and stood up.” And then again, v’hineh! Something marvelous occurs. “Your sheaves stood all around mine and bowed down to my sheaf.”

Joseph, one of twelve brothers, will rise to an exalted position as the second highest ruler in Egypt and all of his brothers will bow down to him. This will be literally fulfilled in Genesis 44:14.

God is showing them now of the future and what will happen to each of them directly, but He is showing their posterity what will happen in its ultimate fulfillment when Israel as a nation bows before the Son of Judah and the Son of David. They will finally, as  a people bow down to Him as their rightful Leader.

Even the Jews know that this passage is speaking of the Messiah. One ancient Jewish book, Raya Mehimna in Zohar, records that Joseph’s sheaf is to be interpreted as the Messiah. If this is so, and it is, then this is explicitly realized in Philippians 2:10, 11 –

…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

“Every knee” includes every Jewish knee as well as every gentile knee. The nations will behold the Messiah and bow.

⁸ And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

This is the second verse that says they “hated him even more” It proves this is an anchor in the chiasm which started in verse 5. The hatred is highlighted by the brothers, but it is the result of the rule which would be imposed on them. “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you have dominion over us?”

The question will be answered someday when they bow to Joseph, but it is ultimately fulfilled in Christ. When His conception was announced to Mary, Gabriel spoke these words to her –

“He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. ³³ And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

His reign was prophesied by Gabriel and His dominion is confirmed by Peter. In His first letter to the Jewish believers, he says this – “To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever.” Amen. 5:11 LIFE APPLICATION (It’s all about Jesus)

III. Joseph’s Second Dream

⁹ Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”

Once again, Joseph has a dream which is as plain to understand as one could be. The second dream resembles the first, and in the Bible, when things are repeated, the second occurrence is given to confirm the first. The symbolism of the 11 stars is the same as the 11 sheaves. They are the 11 brothers of Joseph.

Knowing this, the sun and the moon can be interpreted as well. They are his father and mother. Rachel is already dead, and so Leah, being Jacob’s wife, must be that mother now. And this then fits the pattern of Jesus and the symbolism of the Bible.

The sun isn’t representing God as Jesus’ Father. Rather it is representing the tribe of Judah, from who Jesus issues. And the moon is ultimately fulfilled in who Leah pictures, the law. In the psalms, Judah is said to be the lawgiver. The symbolism is perfectly clear here. All the tribes of Israel and the law, which was what established them as a people, will all bow to Jesus.

¹⁰ So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”

This dream was told to Jacob as well as the brothers this time, which tells that he now understood exactly what was intended by the dream. And Jacob understood it as well, asking “Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”

Jacob is incredulous, and it’s reflected in his response. But the answer is found in the Bible itself. And the answer is “No.” There is no record of Jacob bowing to Joseph. It would be a stretch to find this dream’s fulfillment in him in any way at all.

In the end, this second dream can be, and is, only fulfilled in Jesus. The nation of Israel, and the law which was issued to them, is the only reasonable explanation to what has been seen in Joseph’s second dream. Thus, there is a literal and spiritual fulfillment of the first dream, and a spiritual fulfillment in the second. But both are realized in Jesus in the ultimate sense.

¹¹ And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

This final verse of today will show us in the coming verses that envy can only lead to trouble. However, our trouble can be used by God in ways that are more marvelous than we might imagine. The terrible ordeal that Joseph will face because of his brother’s envy will be used by God at the Exodus to show forth His glory in a way which has been remembered for close to 4000 years.

Another group, at a different time, was consumed with envy as well, and they committed the single most horrific act in human history. And yet, out of this came an even greater demonstration of God’s glory.

The exodus of Egypt never would have occurred if Joseph wasn’t first sold by his brothers. And our exodus from sin and bondage could never have come about unless Christ was crucified. And His cross also came about by the consuming envy of His own brothers. We read about it in Matthew 27 –

Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished. ¹⁶ And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. ¹⁷ Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” ¹⁸ For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy.

In the end, Jesus’ brothers handed Him over, and it was out of envy. But this, despite being horrific, brought about the greatest event in all of human history.

Jesus Christ died, not for His own sins – for He had none, but for the sins of the world. I’d like just another moment to explain how this is relevant to you and how you also can become a part of God’s glorious and unfolding plan…

Closing Verse: For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. ¹¹ For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.”Romans 14:10, 11

Next Week: Genesis 37:12-22 (The Son is Sent) (93rd Genesis Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you and He has a good plan and purpose for you. Call on Him and let Him do marvelous things for you and through you.

A Dreamer of Dreams

Now Jacob dwelt in the land
Where his father was a stranger
In the land of Canaan, a place of safety
He lived without fear of danger

This is the history of Jacob
Joseph, being seventeen years of age
Was feeding the flock with his brothers
When soon his life would turn another page

And the lad was with his kin
The sons of Bilhah and Zilpah his father’s wives
And Joseph brought a bad report along with him
Of them to his father about the conduct of their lives

Now Israel loved Joseph more…
Than all his children that he had
Because he was the son of his old age
And he made his father’s heart so glad

Also a tunic of many colors for him he made
Yes, Joseph of all the sons was handsomely arrayed

But when his brothers saw this thing
That their father loved him more
Than all his brothers, they hated him
And could not speak peaceably to him, only words so sore

Now Joseph had a dream
And to his brothers he told it
And they hated him even more
It gave them quite a fit

So he said to them, as he confidently beamed
“Please hear this dream which I have dreamed…

There we were, all of us – you and I
We were binding sheaves in the field
Then behold, my sheaf arose in my mind’s eye
And also stood upright as my dream revealed

And indeed your sheaves stood all around
And bowed down to my sheaf, right to the ground

And his brothers said to him thus
“Shall you indeed over us reign?
Or shall you have dominion over us?”
Let’s not hear this kind of thing again

So they hated him even more
For his dreams and for his words
Which really made them sore
Then he dreamed still another dream

And told it to his brothers
And said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream
I wonder if I’ll have any others?

And this time, the sun and the moon
And the eleven stars bowed down to me
Will this happen someday soon?
What can the meaning of these dreams be?

So he told it to his father and his brothers, you know
And his father rebuked him and said to him, is it really so?

“What is this dream that you have dreamed?
Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed
Come to bow down to the earth before you?”
Has this thing been decreed?

And his brothers envied him as you might expect
But his father kept the matter in mind
These dreams were given so that we could recollect
That God knew before, the things He had designed

God spoke through dreams and through prophets too
Giving wise instruction which will carry us through

These words are recorded now in the Bible for us to heed
To teach valuable lessons to each and every one
So let us pay attention, to His word giving heed
This wondrous word which tells us of His Son

Hold fast, stand strong, and fix your eyes on Jesus
As we await that glorious day when He will return for us

Hallelujah and Amen…

 

Genesis 36:15-43
An Awareness in the Sons of Adam

Introduction: Today’s sermon will complete Chapter 36. We’ll look at 29 verses which are mostly names of people and a few locations. Very little else is noted here. But because it has been given by God, it would be negligent to simply read the verses and then give a sermon about how to build a bicycle.

Instead, it would be more honoring and fitting to the Creator to at least go through these verses with an eye which is open to some of the multitude of details and seek out the reason for why they’re there. As we’ll discover today, conscience is something given to us by God and which is immensely important to our relationship with Him.

We were created in innocence, not bearing the knowledge of good and evil. Although it was we who strayed from God, He knew that we would and He didn’t stop us from doing so. Why? In order to have creatures who can truly praise Him, they must have an awareness of who they are in relation to Him.

There was much lost at the fall of man, but in the long run, there is much that will be gained because of the fall of man. It is all a part of God’s plan and a portion of that can be seen in today’s lengthy list of names.

Text Verse: …for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, ¹⁵ who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) ¹⁶ in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. Romans 2:14-16

It’s true, we have a law written on our hearts which bears witness through our conscience. It works to either accuse us or to excuse us before God. This conscience can become seared, or it can be kept tender and willing to comply.

However we use it, it will be a source of God’s judgment upon us and it will be done by the One who is qualified to accomplish the task – Jesus Christ. His word is what reveals Him to us and His word is what gives us guidance for our life so that our conscience will be free from stain. And so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. The Chiefs of the Sons of Esau

¹⁵ These were the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn son of Esau, were Chief Teman, Chief Omar, Chief Zepho, Chief Kenaz, ¹⁶ Chief Korah, Chief Gatam, and Chief Amalek. These were the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom. They were the sons of Adah.

This listing here is known as the “chiefs” of Esau. Older translations use the term “duke.” The word is equivalent to the “princes” or “leaders” of Israel. The difference between these people and a king is that a king has been crowned, while the leader or chief hasn’t been.

The reason why the older translations use “duke” is because it comes from a Latin word, dux. This means “leader.” The word here is translated from the Hebrew, alluphay. It has the same meaning, but it also means a thousand in number.

The title “chief” here then is probably something like “the leader of a thousand” or “the leader of a large group.” In Greek this person would be called a chiliarch and in Latin we’d call him something like a centurion, even though a centurion would lead a hundred, not a thousand.

What we see here are the prominent descendants of Esau. The people of their tribes would be called after their name. This first list contains those who descend from Esau’s firstborn son Eliphaz by his wife Adah.

¹⁷ These were the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: Chief Nahath, Chief Zerah, Chief Shammah, and Chief Mizzah. These were the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife.

This second list is given to show the link of Esau’s son Reuel by his wife Basemath.

¹⁸ And these were the sons of Aholibamah, Esau’s wife: Chief Jeush, Chief Jaalam, and Chief Korah. These were the chiefs who descended from Aholibamah, Esau’s wife, the daughter of Anah. ¹⁹ These were the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these were their chiefs.

And this third list is given for the chiefs who came from Esau’s wife Aholibamah.

Interestingly, God had these names recorded and preserved not through Esau and his descendants, but through the people of Israel. In other words, God felt the list was so important that He had it kept by His chosen and specially loved people.

If you’re following my drift here, the Bible is a book which, among other things, details the redemption of man. This seemingly tedious and often overlooked list is a part of that process.

If you’ll allow it, God is willing to reach into your heart through such lists to tell you, “I care enough about these long dead people to record their names. And so I also care about you. Your name is recorded and you are a part of my plan. Come to me, learn from me, and be reconciled to me, my precious descendant of Adam.”

Now let’s think about this a little more. Israel maintained these records of the Edomites. They also kept the records of their own genealogies. And some of these are recorded in Bible. In AD70, the Temple where all of their genealogies were kept was destroyed, meaning that the only place where they can be found is the Bible.

And there is only one genealogy of the Jewish people which is intact from Adam on – Jesus’ genealogy. The Jewish people are still waiting on their Messiah, when in fact, there is only one Person who can substantially prove that He is of the line of David and thus the Messiah – Jesus.

This shows us the marvelous wonder of God’s wisdom. The most published book on the face of the earth, bears witness to what God has planned and protected – the record of Jesus. If we can simply look at the bigger picture and see this, then this historical play, with so many little stories which don’t seem to tie together or make sense, actually makes all the sense in the world. How interesting is this book! And yet we stay home to sleep in and then watch TV.

II. The Sons of Seir

²⁰ These were the sons of Seir the Horite who inhabited the land:

Suddenly, in this chapter of the genealogy of Esau, there is the seemingly unrelated genealogy of the sons of Seir. Seir comes from a root word which isn’t used. But there are derivatives of it which combine to give a picture of this people and a picture of us.

Although I’m not actually quoting their work, the study for this name came from Abarim, and I want to note that their work here, and in many of my other sermons, has opened up pictures which otherwise would have remained concealed. They are great resource concerning Hebrew names and concepts.

The name Seir is related to se’ar which means hair, sa’ara which means a single hair, and sa’ir which means hairy. Then there is a verb sa’ar which means to be “very afraid.” When you’re very afraid, your hair stands up – you “bristle with terror.”

Then the noun sa’ir means a he-goat, a bristly haired animal, and the noun se’ora speaks of barley. Barley is the a crop with a hairy, or bristly appearance. Then there is another verb sa’ar meaning to sweep away – something you would do with a hairy broom. From this word comes sa’ar and se’ara which mean “storm” – something that both causes one to bristle with fear and which sweeps away things in its path.

It’s a lot of words, but in the end, the concept of hair and all of these related words tie back to the thought of awareness and a consciousness. This group of people, the sons of Seir, is surely being introduced for three reasons. The first is to show who the land belonged to prior to Esau taking it over, and thus where the name came from.

Secondly, it’s used to show the merging of the Edomites with these people. They intermarried to some extent and eventually, the Edomites dispossessed and destroyed the Horite people.

And finally, they are detailed to show us the state of man and his circumstances in a world where we have a conscience about God. The man named Seir is said to be a Horite. The Horite was first introduced in chapter 14 at the times that the kings of the east came and attacked the land of Canaan.

The name “Horite” means a troglodyte; a cave dweller. There in the land of awareness, they lived in caves. Throughout the Bible, caves are places where people go to hide away or to secret something away. Lot was afraid of living in Zoar and so he and his daughters moved to a cave.

Abraham wanted to bury his dead wife Sarah, and so he bought a cave to secret her away. Hiding away in caves is seen again and again in the Bible. It is a place where one can go because of fear, such as when the kings who fought against Joshua hid from him and his army. They bristled with fear as they hid in their cave.

As you can see, these many related words all suddenly tie together in the introduction of this guy Seir the Horite and his descendants. He is the hairy man dwelling in caves; Adam is the conscious man hiding from God. And so we continue with the list of sons…

^{21 (con’t)} Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ²¹ Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom.

In Genesis 32:3 we read this, “Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.”

If you noticed, it said Esau was living in the land Seir in that verse, but now it says the sons of Seir are living in the land of Edom. There is a purpose and a point to this. Seir and Edom are being tied together so that when one is mentioned, both are understood.

The Edomites represent the people of the world descended from Adam. They have a conscience and they live in fear. Hebrews tells us about that –

“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Hebrews 2:14, 15

Here we are, living in fear and hiding in caves, waiting for the coming of the One who will destroy him who has the power of death, our old adversary, the devil. God kept these records of names, and the Hebrews who quietly copied them for many long centuries must have wondered why. Only in Messiah is the reason for their inclusion truly understood.

Stated a different way, these verses and names are ultimately given, if for no other reason, than to establish a baseline concerning the state of the people of the world as reflected in the struggle of man before the coming of Messiah. God’s eyes and His thoughts may have seem to be directed only to the people Israel, but in fact, they are squarely on all of His creatures.

If you sometimes feel as if God is unconcerned about you, all you need to do is come to a long and meticulous list like Genesis 36 to see that He really, really cares for you and He willing to go to extraordinary steps to once again call you His own.

²² And the sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam. Lotan’s sister was Timna.

Lotan is the first son of Seir. His name means “covering.” Although I’m not going to give the meaning of the names of all the sons and grandsons, they are listed for us to see the work of Christ. In the case of Lotan, his name means “covering.” Lotan is derived from the word “lowt” which is used exactly one time in the Bible. It’s speaking of the end of death on earth. This is from Isaiah 25 –

And in this mountain
The Lord of hosts will make for all people
A feast of choice pieces,
A feast of wines on the lees,
Of fat things full of marrow,
Of well-refined wines on the lees.
⁷ And He will destroy on this mountain
The surface of the covering cast over all people,
And the veil that is spread over all nations.
⁸ He will swallow up death forever,
And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces;
The rebuke of His people
He will take away from all the earth;
For the Lord has spoken.

If Seir is the conscious man who fears death, then Lotan is that covering. He is the pall of death which has been cast over all people and which affects and torments every nation. In Christ, that pall is destroyed and death is swallowed up in victory. Great stuff.

In addition to naming Lotan and his two sons, it then says, “Lotan’s sister was Timna.” Once again, a girl’s name is mentioned out of the blue in a list of genealogies which is almost entirely centered on men. Seir certainly had lots of daughters, but only she is mentioned. Her name means “restraint.”

Because she becomes the concubine of Eliphaz, the son of Esau, it gave the descendents of Esau the chance to intermix with the people of Seir and eventually take over the land and expel them from it. I read you a quote about that last week from Deuteronomy 2. Eventually, the Horites, Seir’s people, disappear.

So, if I were an evolutionist, I’d use Timna’s introduction here to show how through evolution, the sons of Adam beat out the Neanderthal cavemen who lived in caves to become the dominant race. But that’s not what is happening here at all.

There are two reasons for including her name. The first is that she becomes the mother of Amalek, the great foe of Israel throughout the Old Testament. We read all about that last week. But secondly, she is named because Timna, or restraint, comes from a verb mena which means to hold back. It’s used in Psalm 84:11 this way –

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord will give grace and glory;
No good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly.

Despite being the mother of the wicked group known as the Amalekites, I’m sure she’s named here to show us God’s mercy in both withholding His wrath on the Adam’s seed, and demonstrating grace in not withholding any good thing from them when they seek His face.

Despite not being the covenant people, God allowed them to continue throughout the centuries until Christ finally came and opened the path for all. Isn’t that a God of restraint, grace, and mercy! And that same restraint is seen today as the world continues to reject what has already happened.

Even after sending us His Son, He continues to patiently wait and tug at our hearts until the day we wake up from our slumber and call on Him. I can only be grateful that He waited so long for me…

²³ These were the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. ²⁴ These were the sons of Zibeon: both Ajah and Anah. This was the Anah who found the waterin the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon.

If you want to pursue a real rabbit’s tale, this is a fun verse to do it. Here it says Anah “found the water in the wilderness.” Nobody is sure what this means. Some translators say he found mules, some say he found a race of giants called the Emmim, some say hot springs, some warm springs, and the NKJV simply says water.

One thing is sure, he found something there in the wilderness as he pastured his father’s donkeys. Adam Clarke said that, “From the above opinions and versions the reader may choose which he likes best, or invent one for himself.” Ok Adam… He found a five pound bag of super sour neon goomy worms. Anyway,,, there’s one of those little mysteries found in the Bible.

In the next six verses, 25 different names or places are mentioned. If you really want to know what every one of them means, email me and I’ll send you the information. Otherwise, I’ll just quote the verses for you to keep our stream of Genesis going uninterrupted.

²⁵ These were the children of Anah: Dishon and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah. ²⁶ These were the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. ²⁷ These were the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. ²⁸ These were the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. ²⁹ These were the chiefs of the Horites: Chief Lotan, Chief Shobal, Chief Zibeon, Chief Anah, ³⁰ Chief Dishon, Chief Ezer, and Chief Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, according to their chiefs in the land of Seir.

And so thus ends the list of the people of Seir…

III. The Kings of Edom

³¹ Now these were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel:

After the diversion into the people and places of Seir before and during the time of the Edomites, the genealogy now returns to Edom and those who reigned as king over the land. But it says that they are those who reigned “before any king reigned over the children of Israel.”

The question that must arise here is, “How could this have been written by Moses (Genesis is in Moses’ five books) if it speaks of kings reigning over Israel, which didn’t happen until long after the time of Moses?” In fact, it was about 400 years later. The answer is that Moses wrote in a future sense. The promise by God was already made to Abraham that kings would come from him.

Moses also spoke about the establishment of a kingship in Deuteronomy 17. Here is the passage in its entirety –

¹⁴ “When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ ¹⁵ you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. ¹⁶ But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ ¹⁷ Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. ¹⁸ “Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. ¹⁹ And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, ²⁰ that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.

So no problem here. People do attempt to find fault in the Bible over things like this, but there is always an answer to the doubter of God’s word.

³² Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah. ³³ And when Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. ³⁴ When Jobab died, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. ³⁵ And when Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who attacked Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place. And the name of his city was Avith. ³⁶ When Hadad died, Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. ³⁷ And when Samlah died, Saul of Rehoboth-by-the-River reigned in his place. ³⁸ When Saul died, Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. ³⁹ And when Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor died, Hadar reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.

One more thing about this list of names. None of them have to be names of the descendants of Esau. Instead, they could be kings who reigned in the land of Edom even before it became Edom. We can’t be certain of who these people are or when they actually reigned. After this list, comes the last list in the chapter. Three verses for us to read…

⁴⁰ And these were the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families and their places, by their names: Chief Timnah, Chief Alvah, Chief Jetheth, ⁴¹ Chief Aholibamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon, ⁴² Chief Kenaz, Chief Teman, Chief Mibzar, ⁴³ Chief Magdiel, and Chief Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession. Esau was the father of the Edomites.

This last list of three verses is believed to be the chiefs of Esau who reigned after the convergence of the people of Seir and Edom. In other words, the joint influence of both groups is highlighted, thus showing the transition from the people of Seir to the people of Edom who will eventually completely replace them.

So here we have the 43 verses of chapter 36 with all of this detail. Name after name has been given and they have been interspersed with just a little bit of historical or geographical information.

One lesson that we can take home from all of this is that although the line of promise, from Adam, through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is highlighted, God has still watched over the other people of the world in the process. None are lost to Him.

Every son of Adam, pictured by the people of Edom, is named and remembered. The details of their lives are known to God. These lists are written and recorded to show that the promises that were made to Esau were fulfilled exactly as they were given.

The people of Seir have been added to the list to show how Seir and Edom united and became one people, but they are also given to show us that in Adam there is an awareness of conscience which permeates all men. It is a conscious knowledge of God.

The Horites were cave dwellers who hid from God’s presence, just as Adam and Eve hid from the Lord when He came to them in the Garden. The awareness of their sin and their fallen nature caused them to draw back from the One they had only a short time earlier beheld face to face.

In the loss of the friendship and intimacy came something new though, actually two things. The first was death. Death came in two forms. The first was spiritual. This was something promised would happen and it was immediate. Before he ate of the fruit the Lord told the man that on the day he ate of it, he would die.

The second form of death was physical. This type of death is less severe than the other, but often more feared. The reason is that if the first type of death isn’t corrected before the second type comes, then the first type will last for all eternity. The horrifying inevitability of physical death was announced to Adam –

“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
¹⁸ Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
¹⁹ In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”

Death, both types of death, came through man’s rebellion and since that time, man has been secreted away in the caves of the earth, hiding from God, and also being hidden in death.

The second thing which came about in the garden was an awareness, a consciousness that man didn’t previously have. Here is how Genesis describes it –

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. Genesis 3:22

Just as Adam moved into a new realm and a new dispensation – that of Conscience, Esau moved into a new area and a new home – that of Seir. After the move, yes, there was an ongoing struggle between the sons of Israel and the sons of Edom. The struggle continued right into the times just before Christ.

In 129 BC, the people of Edom were assimilated into the people of Israel and they became one people. Not long after this, Jesus came and walked among us. He, the true Israel, made it possible for all of the hairy sons of Adam to be united into the covenant people.

There is now no distinction between people groups in Christ. All are one in Messiah. But there are still distinctions in peoples. In everything, there are always two categories. As a wise man once said, “There are only two groups of people. There are those who put everything into two categories… and there is everyone else.”

Though cute, he’s right you know. Concerning us, there are those who are in Adam and those who are in Christ. There are those who are a part of the commonwealth of Israel and entitled to eternal blessings, and there are those who are outside the promises and who remain spiritually dead.

There are those whose father is the devil and there are those who, because of Jesus, have God as their Father. And these are the only two categories the Bible reveals. The little book of 1 John, back towards the end of the Bible tells us it is so –

He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.  1 John 3:8

Such is the nature of the work of Christ. It is an all or nothing deal. Who then, is your father? In hopes that you have, or will accept Him, I’d like to take a moment and give a short explanation of why accepting Him is so very important to you, and how you can do it…

Closing Verse: There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him. 1 Peter 3:21, 22

 

Next Week: – Genesis 37:1-11 (Sheaves of the Field and Stars of the Sky) (92nd Genesis Sermon)  – Make sure to read and study those verses.

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you and He has a good plan and purpose for you. Call on Him and let Him do marvelous things for you and through you.

Esau and Seir
(A Lot of Names for One Poem)

These were the chiefs of the sons of Esau
The sons of Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn son
Were Chief Teman, Chief Omar, Chief Zepho, Chief Kenaz
Chief Korah, Chief Gatam, and Chief Amalek, he was the last one

These were the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom
They were the sons of Adah, and she was their mom

These were the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son:
Chief Nahath, Chief Zerah, and more to tell
Chief Shammah, and Chief Mizzah
These were the chiefs of Reuel

In the land of Edom where they lived their life
These were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife

And these were the sons of Aholibamah, Esau’s wife:
Chief Jeush, Chief Jaalam, and Chief Korah
These were the chiefs who from Aholibamah descended
Esau’s wife, the daughter of Anah, zippity doo dah

These were the sons of Esau, who is Edom
And these were their chiefs, and the name of each mom

These were the sons of Seir the Horite
Who inhabited the land:
Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, yes that’s right
Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan – making quite a clan

These were the chiefs of the Horites, not folks in Vietnam
They, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom

And the sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam
Lotan’s sister was Timna, would you remember in an exam?

These were the sons of Shobal, we have five names
Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam
To remember them all, make up some word games…

These were the sons of Zibeon, I hope you remember well
Both Ajah and Anah, their names as the Bible does tell

This was the Anah who found the water
In the wilderness as he roamed around
As he pastured the donkeys of Zibeon his father
The find brought him a name widely renowned

These were the children of Anah
The names they were given
Dishon and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah
Recorded in the land of the livin’

These were the sons of Dishon, here we have four
Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran, names we shouldn’t ignore

These were the sons of Ezer:
Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan, just these three
These were the sons of Dishan:
Uz and Aran, that’s only two – as you can see

These were the chiefs of the Horites:
Chief Lotan, Chief Shobal, Chief Zibeon, Chief Anah too
Chief Dishon, Chief Ezer, and Chief Dishan all with the rights
To be called Horite chiefs, a pretty big to-do!

These were the chiefs of the Horites, all listed here
According to their chiefs in the land of Seir

Now these were the kings who reigned
In the land of Edom before any
King reigned over the children of Israel:
And yes, yes there were many

Bela the son of Beor in Edom reigned
And the name of his city was Dinhabah a nice space
And when Bela died, the Bible explained
Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place

When Jobab died the account we can retrace
Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place

And when Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad
Who attacked Midian in Moab’s field
Reigned in his place, making proud his dad
And the name of his city was Avith as is revealed

When Hadad died, as we all do
Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place
And when Samlah died making his friends go “boo hoo”
Saul of Rehoboth-by-the-River reigned, Samlah he did replace

When Saul died, Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor
Reigned in his place
And when Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor died
Hadar, then Baal-Hanan, did replace

And the name of his city was Pau
His wife’s name was Mehetabel
The daughter of Matred who you know now
Was the daughter of Mezahab, as you can tell

And these were the names of the chiefs of Esau
According to their families and their places
By their names, we’re almost done – hurrah!
Chief Timnah, Chief Alvah, Chief Jetheth – so many faces

And Chief Aholibamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon,
Chief Kenaz, Chief Teman, Chief Mibzar
Chief Magdiel, and Chief Iram, now the list is gone
Almost long enough to reach to Myanmar!

These were the chiefs of Edom we see
According to their dwelling places
In the land of their possession, by divine decree
Esau was the father of the Edomites and all these named faces

This account has been long, but necessary too
God detailed these things in His word for me and for you

All leading us to understand the work of Jesus better
So let’s treasure every name, every word, every letter

Thank You Lord for such tender care of us
Thank You Lord for sending Your Son, our Lord, Jesus

Hallelujah and Amen…